The 2025 short film Enter the Room is brilliance in one act. Filmmakers like Harry Waldman are the reason I love short films. If done properly, these creative bits of ingenuity knock one’s socks off. Waldman is another one with vision and his horror film Enter the Room has a solid punchline. One that will leave you almost breathless with sudden understanding.
The story
Brian lives alone. His brother Jeremy approaches him in the apartment and asks if he can bunk down temporarily. Tension ensues as the polar opposites begin to collide.
the intimate cast
Peter Mastne is Brian.
Rich Holton is Jeremy.
Casting is king
Waldman, who almost single handedly created Enter the Room: Writer, Director, Editor, Producer, picked his intimate cast well. Both actors “act their little cotton socks off” here. They do so well that at no time do we see them actually portraying anything but truth.
Mastne and Holton feel as real as the fabric on your worn sofa. In a short time they convey: Brotherly love, anxiety, annoyance, anger, tense interaction and, by the end, meltdowns of differing proportions.
Behind the Camera
Enter the Room has folks behind the camera who were also a part of this brilliant little film. Lance Eliot Adams, who also co-produced the film, gives us cinematography that rocks the room. Tight and concise. Each scene he films looks great as he uses the small set to maximum effect.
Cody Adams and Chris Colabella give us sound that does not irritate and confuse. We can hear the actors clearly and do not have to strain for understanding. Kevin MacLeod mixes the music in such a way that it does not interfere. It enhances. As it should.
It all works
Waldman gives Enter the Room a taut almost nerve wracking element of tension from frame one. Brian is almost insanely coiled up within himself. He is OCD and ADHD personified. Jeremy is the complete antithesis of his brother. They are, in fact, Dionysius and Apollo; the Yin and Yang of their universe.
Later, when things start unravelling, we understand. Initially, however, we feel for both men and their issues. Clearly they are not a good match as “roomies” however temporary.
the verdict
Enter the Room earns a well deserved 5 stars here. I got so wrapped up in the two men and their issues that the ending surprised me. It also pleased me no end that Waldman managed to spring this one on me. This is what the short film genre was invented for. Watch it and you will see what I mean.
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