Second Death

The authenticity of the dialogues, the characters, the acting and the production design stand out and make John Michael McDonagh's debut short "The Second Death" an interesting, engaging watch. Also, the few exterior shots succeed in summoning an aura of mystique. Nevertheless, the story isn't very clear and the ending is too abrupt and without much of a climax. As a result, it doesn't feel like a fully realized film, more like a taster of a feature length movie.

It's quite good and shows some of what McDonagh would go onto do much better, but it's rather insubstantial in context of the rest of his filmography. Not quite as funny, nor clever, not as memorable. But I did enjoy it and although less captivated by it, the dialogue was still endearing.