‘Entranced’ is an unnerving short from Sam Little. It begins with Lauryn (Emma Buckley), a college student, having a strange encounter in an alleyway. A man invites her to a secret nightclub, but “The Secret Place” doesn’t look or feel like a club – it’s something far darker.
Sometime later, her friends – Mary (Sarah Wade), Steph (Aoife McGrogan), and Rory (Patrick O’Flaherty) – run into her during a night out. Lauryn isn’t herself. She tells them about the club and convinces them to come along. What follows is a tense, disorienting sequence where peer pressure, suspicion, and drug use twist into something unexpected.
The film flirts with multiple genres. It starts like a drama, shifts into a thriller, and ends on a sci-fi beat that comes out of nowhere. There’s no clear resolution, just an abrupt, eerie final image that leaves you guessing.
It’s a student pruduction, and that shows at times. Some scenes feel rough, and the acting isn’t always consistent, but there are strong moments – especially when the group dynamic starts to crack. Buckley brings an unsettling calm to Lauryn that works well.
The cinematography by Bartosz Kolacki is solid throughout, especially in darker scenes. The lighting carries a lot of weight, and the sound holds up.
What stands out most is the tone – low-key, tense, and steadily off-kilter. While there are some rough edges in quality and storytelling, ‘Entranced’ is a respectable effort that shows promise. It takes risks, builds atmosphere, and leaves just enough unease behind to make you remember it.
