Private Project

Reversed

The first and only film of its kind, this short is shot in one continuous take and played entirely in reverse.

A man is arrested for the robbery of his neighbor. As police interrogators work backwards through the crime however they uncover the suspect's hidden convoluted motives, revealing that nothing is what it seems.

  • Matthew Brdlik
    Director
  • Michael Holding
    Key Cast
    "Suspect"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 8, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Matthew Brdlik

Matthew Brdlik is an award winning film director from Chicago Illinois who prides himself on the strong themes and tonality behind his work. After finishing producing and directing the documentary series Wild Gamble for Shed Films, Matthew has set out to create a number of original independent shorts, before embarking on his debut feature film.

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Director Statement

Reversed was originally a thought experiment... What would happen if you filmed an entire film in reverse? From there the challenge was to build a story so motivated by this strong storytelling mechanism that the premise didn't feel like a gimmick.

In crafting this story, my big creative experimentation and leap was to test two simultaneous story lines, one being the visual story and the other auditory, with both playing opposite one another. The visuals start at the climax then fall into needed exposition by the end, while the voice over does the opposite, with both story lines meeting in the middle at the midpoint fight.

In this way the idea was to give the audience the freedom to bounce attention between both visual and audio storytelling, holding continual tension throughout, with both being each equally rich enough in detail to sustain multiple viewings, that continue to provide hidden context and details, and further enjoyment.