Siren (2005)

Directed by: Andrew Mandapat
Starring: Gregory Pedemonte, Sarah Korda, Stephanie Lytle, Johnny Mercer

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Ned: I always had a thing for naughty pictures... only aren't so naughty when they're pictures of my gal another guy.

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With a disillusioned protagonist, claustrophobic close-ups, skewed camera angles, and cynical dialogue like "It's a nice enough place... if you don't mind the smell of cheap perfume and expensive smoke" Siren is a great mini-noir that hits all the right notes. And I say 'mini-noir' only in reference to the film's runtime (18 minutes), and not to the merits of the piece, because director Mandapat uses the familiar elements of the film noir genre to maximum advantage, creating a gloomy, twisted nugget of flashbacky goodness.

The disillusioned protagonist is Ned (Gregory Pedemonte) a - what else - down-and-out Joe with not enough cash and one woman too many. Pedemonte is great in the desperate antihero role, looking amazingly similar to Sin City's Marv without using any makeup. Ned's opening narration - delivered while cluching a fresh gunshot wound - sets up the film's plot: Ned and his mistress Charlie (Sarah Korda) are planning on sticking up the bank Ned works at. Only two problems... Charlie's been cheating on Ned, and Ned's wife Sonora (Stephanie Lytle) knows about the whole damn thing.

Using only four actors (in addition to the three mentioned above Johnny Mercer has a small role as a private eye who uncovers Charlie's infidelity), Mandapat wastes no part of the 18 minutes... each scene sets up a new wrinkle to the story and moves the viewer toward the unavoidable finale. You know it's going to be nasty... the question is just how nasty its going to be. Siren is a great throwback to the golden days of film noir... so I was glad to see that Mandapat is making it into a full-length film. You can follow its progress at Baja Posse's website... he's a guy to keep an eye on.

- Micah