Jadon Flotteron’s short film ‘Thesis: A Film Tragedy’ is a thriller that takes the chaos of filmmaking and twists it into something eerily supernatural. What starts as a relatable industry struggle – low-budget production woes and a drained camera battery – quickly spirals into a disorienting existential puzzle. Baxter (Daniel Qanoongo), the film’s director, stumbles upon his grandfather’s old camera, a relic that proves to be more than just a nostalgic fix – it’s a trapdoor into an unnerving reality.
The film toys with time, agency, and the fragility of control. Baxter declares“cut”, and suddenly, his crew and friends freeze – locked in place as though reality itself is at his command. His world flickers between normalcy and nightmare, his friends freezing and unfreezing at random, like actors in a cruel, unseen director’s hands. The concept is electrifying – a filmmaker forced to question whether he’s making a movie or if the movie is making him.
Jess Zambrano’s cinematography balances the raw energy of indie filmmaking with deliberate, haunting composition. The lighting and movement subtly shift as Baxter’s grip on reality weakens. Sound design and editing work in harmony, amplifying the growing unease. Giorgio Jozef Varipapa, Tugart Brown, and Christopher Korkis all lend convincing performances, but it’s Qanoongo who carries the film’s psychological weight – his unraveling is both understated and devastating.
There’s a beauty in the tragedy, a poetic inevitability that sticks. ‘Thesis: A Film Tragedy; isn’t simply a cool concept – it has heart and genuine emotion. It’s a film about control, and how terrifying it is to lose it. Flotteron orchestrates a slow, surreal collapse. A hauntingly short that will entertain, move and unsettle in equal amounts.
