Reviews through additional feedback

Congratulations, nice work. Well done.

I remember watching this years ago. From a different time. It had an art-house film aura back then (to my untrained eyes). When I watched it again today, I noticed some technical details that stand out to me (from a photographer's perspective, now that I am back to shooting film). For one, I really like the tight framing with the wide angle in most of the shots. I get a sense of looming/primacy of the emotional aspects and a perspective of the guy whose twin(?) died. The scene transitions harken to a different time because they seem not contemporary, especially with all the jump cut, shortened pause techniques that are prevalent in today's social media.

I enjoyed the visuals - the scenery of the ocean, the raw emotion on the actors' faces.

Excellent presentation by the whole team. The way the story was conceptualized and holds the audience engaged all thorough. The cinematography was calm and soothing.The actors have done justice to the roles and the whole screenplay was believable. Kudos to the team and wishing the best for future projects.

Loved the direction, action of the actors. The way the story is communicated in 9 mins with silent scenes and limited dialogue powerfully.Since the theme and mood of the movie is sad even the cinematography is gloomy like the overcast sky, beautifully done

I appreciated both the story and the narrative depth of the short film. However, I would have welcomed a greater variety in shot choices to better serve the storytelling. For instance, tighter framing could have heightened the sense of trauma and deepened the portrayal of the character’s inner struggle. While the camera movements bring energy to the scenes, their abundance at times slightly diminishes their impact. The original score is strong, yet it does not always blend seamlessly with the dialogue; occasionally, the audio mix distracts from the narrative flow. Visually, the short presents solid creative ideas overall. Still, I believe the imagery could have further supported the story through more deliberate choices in grading, lighting, and contrast. Ultimately, I enjoyed watching the short film and valued the thought and message behind it. It is a work full of genuine intent, which would benefit from revealing itself more confidently. Without question, the director shows remarkable potential, and I look forward with great interest to their next creation.

Very nicely filmed. The camera angles were very good.

Good story. I liked the fact and maturity that went on to explain the fact. It is a decade old. But still relevant. Hard to see what is obvious. Essential to take help who are with you as in this case the lady. He is happier with revivals. Hard to accept and not live in the past is the real message. But it is not easy too. Well made. . Fact of life.yet everyone finds it hard to accept and looks around for a reason outside. Every event in your control has been exercised based on context that was in your control. But time to move on and l face life. And identify the people who are supporting you to move on with them

Excellent cinematography. Handled the concept well by emotions and dialogues.

It’s a Good Film. I felt the film name at the beginning just came as a pop up. It would look better it’s merging into the screen and then fading out, Loved the story of a brother who remembers how his twin passed and he was not able to save him & and then went back to the same place to have a closer.

The lighting could have been better I feel for the parts inside the house.

Good attempt for a first time filmmaker. A technically sound and proficient attempt which has an interesting take on the concept of letting things go.

It was a quite good movie. Never saw a film in the directors POV. I particularly liked the scene in which he sees James image in the mirror and it faded away.

I found it amazing that so much could be conveyed in such a short period of time! This film was only 10 minutes long, and yet, it contained creativity, passion, and a story-line that was riveting and conclusive within that time frame. Excellent job!

Keep up the great work, Mansi! I’ve always believed in your creativity. Shine brighter with your amazing filmmaking skills. This is a wonderful movie. Beautifully shot and truly impressive work.

Very nice movie! Superb direction! Many more to come!

I liked how water was a trigger. The shots of the beach looked bright and hopeful. It felt like an inviting respite from the grief even though it was the location of the accident. I did not love that the protagonist told his partner exactly what happened because it could have been inferred. It was too obvious. The whole thing didn’t need any dialogue actually. The cinematography spoke for itself. I liked the close up shots of the actors. I liked the contrast between the beach scene and the apartment scene- stuffy and claustrophobic vs. airy and open.

Manasi, congratulations. The movie is really nice. talks about the unscratched thought process. Maybe additional mic would shape the audio better.

In a short yet very perceptive flow, Revival has captured the agony of survivor's guilt. It is sympathetic yet direct at the same time underlining the importance of support, acknowledging feelings, self-compassion, and moving forward. The direction is spot on, capturing Mike's trauma, fear, self-blame and his partner's calm, quiet, empathetic strength in helping him overcoming it. The film scores on all fronts.

Liked the concept and the way the whole idea was filmed. Makes the process look easy, which it obviously, isn't.

Loved the use of close up shots shots taken like of the water jug and man holding the sink to show the tension and the ones from far away like them at the beach. Very seamless flow. The pale brownish colour tone and the music selection went well with the theme. Overall - you should continue making more of these !

Very good.

The film presents an interesting and courageous concept, one that I found particularly meaningful from a mental health professional’s perspective. The background score and performances are outstanding, and the overall execution feels highly polished and professional. Kudos to the filmmaker!

It is a well made film and could engage my attention for the full span of its duration. I appreciate the cinematography and the mood which is created throughout the film.

Very well handled. it's an apt lesson for any one having to deal with such a difficult situation. The moral of the story is one has to Move on ahead with life instead of clinging to the past.. The message is conveyed very subtly. good work. Now you must try to do more such films or any creative work. good luck.

This was a great effort for a first-time student film. I love the way it addressed overcoming grief by facing it head-on. I wish there were more aspects to it apart from mostly being dialogue-based but this is a great starting point for any aspiring filmmaker. What I meant was that it would have been more fun if there was some action happening. It had just two locations, one in the room and the other at the beach, and just two characters who had some dialogues. So there wasn’t something that was really holding my attention or creating any suspense. I would love to see more from Manasi if she ever decides to make more films. :)

Impressive soundtrack and a nice concept.. overall short and good at the same time engaging. It is commendable that you have done everything from scratch..wishing you loads of luck for your next.

I’ve seen many diploma films and understand what it takes to conceive, execute and action so I appreciate the final outcome with a far more nuanced lens. The movement of the narrative to the final act of letting go was really lovely. Also the ocean as a place to let go is very relatable as that’s where most of us as Hindus say our final. Goodbyes to our loved ones. (Especially loved how the scene in the mirror was shot - very skillful).

The actors were natural in their acting. Simple yet beautiful.

Nice attempt for a student film. Lots of room to improve!

The story and concept are very nice and the actors are very talented. I lived the cinematography as it added to the whole atmosphere and made the movie even more interesting.

The actor killed it. Looking forward to more films.

I liked that the shots are actually long and static, which helped in getting into the headspace of the protagonist. I particularly loved the shot of the overflowing basin, symbolising the protagonist's overwhelming grief. But I do think the dialogues could've been better. It felt too direct and it over explained the themes. I get there were time constraints, but a little bit more work could've been put into making it feel authentic and organic. Other than that, it's pretty good.

I liked the bit where you had focused on the guy's veins that popped up in the bathroom. That was a nice shot. Well taken shot.

Overall it is a great film with a strong concept. The cinematography stands out particularly in how lighting and color are used to highlight the emotions. The waves are perfectly crafted as per the mood. Wish you all the best for your upcoming short movies.

It was nice, liked the simplicity. It's about time to make another one.

A good concept. Well executed as well. Acting felt not so great though.

Was a very well compiled short film. I really liked the execution on how such a emotional topic was conveyed in the short duration of the film. Was captivating and the actors did a great job as well.

I thought short film always starts with a powerful message. It was a little difficult to understand the story until the end.

Overall a good film and great attempt, but there could have been more close up shots of actor's face to show his pain and trauma, and more lighting for the night scene.

Good effort Manasi. Just one thought, when Lucy says that they will face this together, and then she gets up and moves ahead alone, I thought the cut should be after that dialogue when they both are together or living the frame together. A good short to watch.

It's lovely Manasi. I'm not an expert, but I did understand it conceptually, atleast I think I did.

The concept was good. The actors have done a fairly good job as well. Jordan emotes the loss of his brother and the post-trauma stress very well. Katja on the other hand emotes the strong emotional support that Jordan's character needed. I particularly liked the end scene where the actors silently hold their hands together and it is Jordan who takes Katja's hand and she allows him that space for being able to come to terms with getting closure from his brother's loss.

I think I like the concept of going back to the source of the trauma to revive yourself. As humans, we tend to run away from things which have given us traumatic memories, hardly realizing that facing those things can only heal us and revive us. I liked how subtly it has been put in this short film. Also I loved one specific shot, which I believe has been shot but put in the film backwards. Kudos to Manasi! Looking forward to watch more from you !

Thank you for sharing this shortfilm, and congratulations! You made this in 2016, this was your diploma film, so for a diploma film, this is really nice. I'm so glad to know you're so deeply interested in filmmaking. And this intention of yours to pursue storytelling is very clear in the shortfilm. Especially loved the fact that the actors are perfectly balanced in their performances. They're not doing too much but not doing too little either, they're keeping it very balanced, it all feels very natural. Ya so I really liked the shortfilm, thank you so much for sharing.

Quite interesting and handles mature themes for a student film, I just felt the camera work could have been slightly better especially the two shot indoors, the focus felt quite off. And the dialogues felt a bit too scripted but all in all, pretty cool attempt and congratulations for it! So to make it more natural, and make it seem more real and how people converse, it makes sense to use more subtext in the dialogues. Like people deflect, interrupt, and sometimes change topics. All these just make the conversation feel real, more human. Currently, when I say it feels too scripted I mean to say they don’t feel too real, and not exactly how people converse. But again, just my point of view, its a solid attempt and looks quite good.

The overall way that this has been shot, the convincing performances, and last but not the least, the haunting score.

By the date it was made in 2016 and shows the impression of 2016, there's a lot of he developed in terms of editing, cinematography, shot division, narrative and coloring. If this was your first film then this is a good start, but this is not to be going into the portfolio, can make much better now i guess after 10 years surely.

Personal Loss, general mental health and having a support system to help pass over is important and the movie highlights that very well.

I felt that the theme and the concept was a bit under explored. I quite like the opening image of your film - it's very cinematic but when we enter into the lives of the characters, it begins to feel a bit stuck within conversations between them. I feel the theme could have been dealt better by exploring the conflict between the characters. And I think that could have also helped the actors play out the drama in more detail - at this point, the performances feel like they are a bit on the surface. Though I understand it's a student film and comes with its own constraints of budget, casting and crew, congratulations on making your film.

First of all, thank you for sharing the link, I saw the film. I really liked the narrative, I mean I read the synopsis before watching the film. I understood the narrative and I somewhere knew down the line what may happen in the film. However, definitely you've asked me to review. So first of all what I really liked is the sound part, I think that was done really well for a short duration. And the tonality of the film has been kept on the shades of, you know, of the beach. I mean, there are blues, there are browns and all those things. I liked the concept and how the overall tonality was kept on the shades of the beaches and water, it sets up the mood of the film when one starts watching. So I really liked that part. Talking about things which I think could have been treated differently, I mean definitely you are the one who has created this, it is from your point of view, but what I think is that may be towards the end of the film when he is saying miss you James and all those things, he could have touched the water by his feet, because he understood the pain, that's the revival, he is reviving back and water is a very important element. So he could have done that. Also, what I wanted to address here is that within the screenplay now when the when his partner tells him you have to go to the beach, back to the beach to revive all these things, I wanted that to come as a surprise element. You know he got he got a bad dream and then he saw his brother again in the mirror and everything, that's great. What could have been then that's my thought. What I was expecting is that okay, there is a big surprise element, like, that's a big step taken by the partner in terms of taking him to, you know, to the same place. It takes some courage, you know. She must have been thinking, she must have been contemplating this particular thought for a year now because that's what we understood from the premise. What I wanted or what I was expecting is she tells him you go to work and meet me at the park at that time. And then from there 2 more scenes could have been added, that okay, during that time he is also very sad, he is thinking, he is seeing 2 brothers playing, and all those things. And then towards the end when he is coming back to where actually his partner has told him to come, she takes him to the beach and at the beach she tells him this is the moment of your revival, and then he goes and puts his feet into the water, and then the moment of revival happens. I think, for me, I was imagining in that way. But to be honest, I really liked the concept and the narrative of the film. Kudos to you and the entire team and the actors. I just liked the whole concept, and how it turned out to be.

I felt there could have been a stronger emotional connection to the character, or at least more backstory that helped explain his emotional journey. In particular, toward the end, I wanted a clearer understanding of why he chooses to relive the experience or move on. Simply returning to the same place didn't feel like a sufficient catalyst for such a significant emotional shift. The transition in his feelings seemed abrupt, and I felt that an important part of his emotional arc was missing.
I also had a question about the cinematography. Why was the girl kept out of focus during her dialogue scenes? Was that an intentional choice to keep the audience focused primarily on the guy's emotions and perspective? If so, I think that comes across, but I'd be interested to know the reasoning behind that creative decision.

I watched the film and honestly it's okay. I like the camera angles but their conversation could have been much fleshed out. I know he dwells on this past but you could have added few more dialogues and I would have liked it more with less background music during the conversation, but its a good attempt reminds me of a short we did during our PG final year. The dialogues could have been better, other than that it's a good attempt.

The movie was pretty cool, and captures the concept well.

I felt that, as a student film, it’s a good effort. The performances were strong, the dialogues worked well, and the cinematography had some nice framing choices.
One thing that didn’t quite work for me was the color grading. The film felt visually very desaturated throughout. Since the protagonist’s life is already emotionally colorless, it might have been interesting to see more color in the world around him, creating a stronger contrast with his inner state.
Narratively, I felt the story could have benefited from a more defined emotional journey. We learn about the loss of his brother, and then he goes to the beach, seemingly encouraged by his girlfriend to confront his fears. However, the progression felt quite linear. In a short film, audiences often look for either a powerful emotional payoff or a surprising turn, and I felt the ending didn’t quite deliver that emotional gut punch.
That said, overall it’s a good film and a commendable attempt. The craft is evident, and there’s definitely promise in the storytelling.

Good Movie!! Way to go !!

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