The Double is not a bad short film. Director Weng has good composition, she directs her actors well and her script is decent in parts. It’s just too short of one. Weng has enough story for a short story, which would translate–with all the texture she’s trying to imply–to a feature. As a short subject, however, The Double is muddled.

Weng’s narrative isn’t confusing. Her scenes are just too inconsequential to give the impact she’s trying. She gives her dialogue exchanges great import, but the characters delivering the dialogue are poorly rendered. If it were shorter (at thirty minutes, it feels like a truncated feature), Weng’s approach would probably work.

The short would have been greatly improved with constraint, whether running time or something else. She makes numerous attempts at distinctive, complicated shots but none of them resonant. While Weng’s overindulgence hamstrings the short, she’s not without skill.

Not Recommended

CREDITS

Written, directed, edited and produced by Weng Yu-tong; director of photography, Wang Yu-wei.

Starring Ethel Haung (Yu / Ameko), Mengpo Fu (Cousin Bunsin) and Morris Chiao (Father).