Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: LITTLE DOORS [Fantastic Fest - Austin, Texas]
“Little Doors” [Burnt Ends] works on the auspice that every one in one way or another is trapped inside themselves. While the film does reflect more of a stage play wrapped in mumblecore, its use of metaphor as literal done in a very simple way grows on the viewer. A woman (Megan Koester), trapped at the end of world, is waiting for the complete breakdown. The world is not in ruins but it is slowly consuming itself as we see explosions on the horizon. People scavenge though garbage though there doesn’t seem to be many people left. This woman seems to have taken over a deserted house. Power is still running. No one of broadcasting on TV. A locksmith (played by Koester’s husband Anthony Oberbeck -- who also wrote and directed the film) comes over to open a door for her, which might be the first concept that we might not actually be seeing what is actually happening within this world. She opens the door for him to come in. He doesn’t want to leave but doesn’t know why he should stay though he quickly says he loves the woman within a day or two.
A lot of the dialogue is reflected in the characters saying they "don’t know" which is true to form of the movie. The woman also keeps saying that "it is not complicated". Things are actually quite simple now in her view. They build a fire on the front lawn, go on picnics and talk in bed (just a mattress on a floor). The genre twist is that what could have been a bruise before the locksmith showed up turns into a small locked wooden door on the side of the woman's body. She doesn’t know if she should open it. She goes to the doctor who has a visceral reaction…and then to a church but answer is interesting: work with us and maybe we can discover your path. But there are no answers until her partner opens the door. However he becomes transfixed on what is in there but it is simply a mirror reflection of the outside of what people want to see. As the larger half of the film progresses, it is possible that the trap is something different, especially in what can be heard and then what is eventually seen the basement. "Little Doors" is simply done but that eventual reflection gives it much more depth because it allows many different ways to read the film. While a little verbose, the film does have to fit the runtime with not a lot of pieces but it plays both a metaphorical and practical context of the aspect of isolation and how it plays on the psyche. 84%/B
By Tim Wassberg
