my name is stacy algavara

my name is stacy algavara is a short film written and directed by daisy turvey.  the film tells the story of a young woman who is kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer and the subsequent efforts to catch the killer following her murder. parts of the film are narrated by the murdered woman, the stacy algavara of the title, who managed to write a note before she died that she hopes will help identify her killer.

the film is shot in black-and-white and looks really quite stylish in its best moments. the footage of the murdered stacy in the opening sequence is particularly well shot and very effective.  video effects are put to good use, with extreme close-ups and over-exposed shots really adding to the atmosphere. one of the strongest parts of the film is stacy's narration which carries us through the story.  her final words really articulate the idea of knowing you're going to die and wanting to do something, anything about it.  the actress playing stacy, samantha mysel, really gets the emotion across in her reading.  the idea at the centre of the film is a good one and it's refreshing to see a victim take such a subtle revenge.

personally i could've done without some of the police station scenes. the actors looked the part but whether it was their performance or the dialogue in those scenes they didn't quite work for me. i think there could be a much tighter, more stylised film here if the only dialogue you heard was stacy's narration and this played over a montage of the police station scenes to give us the story, but that's just me.

i do think this is a really interesting short film with a fantastic idea at its heart backed up with a well written and well performed monologue. if any of this sounds interesting please do check out the film below and let me know what you thought in the comments.