Written and directed by Nuhash Humayun, Moshari, Bengali for “Mosquito Net”, is a supernatural short film that impressed me with its visuals and unique take on vampirism. Moshari is seriously scary and is a short film that I would love to see in feature-length to explore the depth of its dynamic characters, palpably oppressive setting, and refreshingly horrifying mosquito monster.

Moshari is a Bengali-language film that follows two sisters — Apu (Sunerah Binte Kamal) the older sister, and her young sister Arya (Nairah Onora Saif). Apu watches over Arya, and though they get on each other’s nerves, they are all they have. At night Apu carefully surrounds their bed with a mosquito net to protect them from things that will take their blood, however, one night Arya pokes a hole in the net, breaking the protective barrier, and allowing a frightful being into their bed.

Moshari is disconcerting from the beginning, establishing its eerie and disquieting atmosphere with frank visuals of death and an often discordant musical score. What’s more, the film stars siblings, and the curious absence of their parents adds to the feeling impending of danger. The film sneaks in a bit of social commentary in the form of pitting eastern culture against western culture, as the sisters live under the unaffectionate watch of some regime after a catastrophe.

Before the supernatural fear is even introduced, all of these real-world fears are introduced to our characters who only seem to have each other and a mosquito net to protect them. The acting in Moshari is award-worthy, with the actors portraying a sisterly dynamic to a tee, and the actor portraying the mosquito/vampire monster producing creepy creature perfection.

It has been a long time since a jump scare actually made me jump, and Moshari accomplished just that; had I had enough to process I might’ve screamed too! But more than just a horror movie, Moshari is thought-provoking, with a story centered around a theme of blood loss that can be paralleled to different meanings depending on who’s watching, such as one’s womanhood being taken or societies that bleed other societies dry. I loved Moshari from start to finish, from its foreboding beginning to its dark-chocolaty bittersweet ending; even its end credits were great, with an indie rock outro playing over cooly animated credits.

8.5 out of 10