Short Film Review: ‘The Last Light’

An ominous soundtrack plays during the course of The Last Light, a dark, creepy short film from Angelita Mendoza. The film focuses on the disappearance of a young girl from a Spanish speaking family and a boy is held captive in what looks to be an abandoned home located just a ways from the family’s big house. The elders in the family are hell-bent on finding the child and will go to any means to illicit information from the young boy they’ve captured. Right from the start, we get the impression that something very bad has happened.

Young Izabella (Izabella Limon) is told by the elders to go outside to play so that they can discuss a plan on what to do. The cinematography of the film is absolutely breathtaking and even the establishing shots appear to be professionally done. Izabella eventually ventures off the family property and ends up discovering the tied up little boy (Dante Montenegro Burgos). I will give credit to Mendoza (director, co-writer and editor) for creating a sense of dread, and loss of hope displayed from the elders. I love the soundtrack and the camera shots, this was made quite well.

Score 4 out of 5

The Last Light is a creepy short film that has a soundtrack to match all the shots in the film. We are left with a sense of dread during its entirety but overall I was impressed with the production values and even the child actors in the film. The content may not sit well for everyone but looking past that Mendoza has captured my attention with this creation.

Rick Rice: A kid at heart who has loved watching movies from a very young age. Credit must be given to Siskel and Ebert whose film reviews educated me on the world of film inspired me to become a writer myself. I love to read books that range from various topics, copious amounts of research is something that excites me and of course sitting in a movie theater is a highlight of my life. When I'm not watching movies or reading I enjoy listening to foreign music and working hard on finishing my short stories. Currently working on my degree in English with a plan to enroll into Film School with the dream of becoming a screenwriter and director.
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