HNIFF 2023
BOXED
Directed by Abril Andrea Arnauda Appel · Canada · 8 min · short · narrative
In a claustrophobic and repetitive yet chamaleonic four-walled space lives the perfectionist Eva, who values the most her routine. However an anomaly creeps into her routine and personality, that progressively eats away at her exterior facade and she begins to humanize showing fears and doubts. Suddenly her self-preservation instinct is all she has in her boxed nightmare.
This film's screening window has ended.
From the director
Before focusing on a story or a character, BOXED began with the four-walled space that Eva lives in and her chameleon-like personality is embodied in the set décor and lighting. From then on, space determined this futuristic confined world where humans emotionally depend on daily routines and machines to help them in their daily tasks, where everything is within reach to satisfy the most basic needs without human contact. This isolated space also built Eva's perfectionist personality based on a coping mechanism of trying to keep everything in order when psychologically it is not.
Primarily inspired by the previous 2020 lockdown during the COVID pandemic, BOXED represents this surged helplessness and paranoia that consumes a human inside and out when trapped for a long time in a room. This short film deals with themes such as fear of the unknown and our mind versus ourselves.
Visually the space portrays Eva's state of mind as it deteriorates. Initially there is simplicity in the space and the look of the character: minimalist and highlighting the use of lights. The story progresses showing human failures and details of imperfection that results in a verbal, written and physical catharsis, triggering a contrast of total exhaustion or avoidance of problems, and an instinctive fight against death that ends in final resignation.
BOXED has two basic looks; the perfect routine life with at least one set decoration element in the room and a prop, symbolizing a room with a “life on its own” and useful to the character. The second look is an empty room “dressed” only with Eva’s blood and the light simulates a malfunction as Eva’s mind. It looks like the space is only waiting for her demise Hair and makeup enhance the idea of her deterioration by reducing its level of perfection until it is totally ruined.
