“Unsettling” is the word that immediately comes to mind when reflecting on the experience of watching Shé (Snake). It’s not enough that the film is laced with a suspenseful string-shrieking score, dark and moody set designs, and a scene in the beginning that bears glimmers of Whiplash, but director Renee Zahn brings to this project her own signature style of surrealism, melding live action and stop motion filmmaking in this thrilling horror comedy short.

Under pressure to retain her position as the top musician of an elite London youth orchestra, Chinese violinist Fei finds herself threatened by the arrival of another talented Chinese violinist with a skill level that rivals her own. Before long, Fei’s anxieties manifest themselves in unexpected and surprising ways, until the unstable situation pushes her to a breaking point.

At first blush, Shé (Snake) might appear like a routine exercise in mounting suspense - a craft I find thoroughly engrossing even at its basic level. Right off the bat, the tone and mood of the film is eerie and ominous with scenes drenched in drab colors and textures. Zhan wastes no time making the audience feel discomfort about the journey they’re about to embark on.

But as the narrative progresses and the situation evolves, it becomes clear that Shé (Snake) isn’t your typical horror experience. When tiny monsters make their grotesque entrance into the narrative, they then begin to evolve themselves, manipulating Fei’s mindset.

This is where the “comedy” part of this horror-comedy begins - where creepy crawly, maggot-like monsters begin to permeate our protagonist’s perspective. Injecting these creatures with the use of stop motion animation in this otherwise live-action film fantastically captures Zahn’s signature sense of absurdity in storytelling. Her previous projects - short films like Soft Animals and O Black Hole! - play with molded and deformed figures, and those same sensibilities come through in the stop-motion components of the film.

But this is likely what fans of Zahn have come to expect from her project. What makes Shé (Snake) stand out is how Zahn steps outside of comfort zone (if “bizarre” and “grotesque” is what you want to call “comfortable”) and into a more conventional narrative style and more contemporary suspense and horror genre.

What’s more is that the payoff is superb, reaffirming Zahn’s top-notch storytelling capabilities. The quality of Zahn’s films are undeniable, and Shé (Snake) is just another example of this.

Acting/Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 2 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer’s Preference - 2 | What does this mean?