Melancholy in 50 is the fifteenth entry at the Horror-Rama Film Festival. The Canadian short film is about a woman named Alice walking around the streets and finding a building with a red door. She stops, looking sad. As she walks around town she goes glitchy as some surroundings change. What follows is a surreal journey into her past. The question remains…who is this mysterious woman?

Writer/Director Juan Francisco Carelo Hueso delivers a beautifully shot artistic film with style and substance. A clever script provides both character development and a poignant story without any dialogue. The set pieces full of extras feel like real places the way they’re staged. Wide shots are used to establish the settings in contrast to the close-ups being used to focus on Alice’s pain. Using muted colour tones accompanied by the lighting adds to the sullenness because it gives the film more atmosphere. It’s gorgeous to look at.

Susannah Mackay is Alice. She carries the film because of the emotional weight of her performance. Her performance is amazingly done with her facial expressions and body language. Aside from the extras, she’s the only character and she makes it work. A lesser actress wouldn’t be able to do that.

The score adds to the morose feeling with a slowed-down ominous version of “Happy Birthday To You.”

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this engagingly heartfelt, distinctively directed short film. Alice is an enigma full of insurmountable sorrow. What makes this a satisfying experience is the sense of discovery as it goes along. It’s paced so as not to feel rushed yet enough details are acquired from the narrative to feel like a complete story. The audience clapped and cheered very loudly. In fact, it received the most positive reaction so far. I highly recommend this for the strong directing, writing, and acting. And remember, this film fills me with joy but what’s in a name?