By 
★★★★★
Starring: #AliKhan, #MaggieOllerenshaw, #AngusBarnett, #DebbieChazen and #JessicaBalmer
Directed by: #JacobDudman
Short Film Review by: Alexandra James
Finger Food, a short film that is both funny, clever and extraterrestrial! Directed by Jacob Dudman this film shows the awkward encounters of meeting your girlfriends’ parents for the first time. However, it becomes even more of an awkward situation when you learn that her parents are aliens! This short was very comical and light-hearted, and a great film for both sci-fi fans and comedies. After dating for a while, it was time for Jason to meet Lucy’s family. Unfortunately for Jason, he arrives just a bit too early and must enter the family home alone as Lucy makes her way back from work after a delayed train. If you couldn’t think of anything worse, the family also have some odd habits and are finding it hard to hide their true selves!
Boyfriend Jason played by Ali Khan who also starred in A Haunting in Venice, was pulling out all the stops to impress his in laws, greeting them with flowers and a seemingly big smile. Unfortunately, none of these acts of kindness are doing anything to sway dad Steve. However, they seem to win round mum and nana…maybe even a little too much for nana. The acting within this short was seamless from start to finish, especially from Angus Barnett. Although he had limited dialogue, his presence on screen was powerful and made me feel nervous! The same goes for Ali Khan, you can feel a lot of emotion from an actor by just facial expressions and judging from his fear-stricken face and wide eyes, this was not a family he wished to be a part of anytime soon. I really enjoyed watching the discomfort play out and found that you can relate to some of the scenes, particularly with Jason who wanted nothing more than to get out quick.
The storyline had a clever twist, an ordinary family with a dark secret. Will they accept Jason, or will he be the next on their ingredients list. The location and ambience of the home included a lot of details that were simple and effective. The colours used for the lighting as well as the costume designs, made this into a high-quality film, it was entertaining to watch, and you become quickly invested in the storyline. I really loved all the characters, and the acting style cannot be faulted for this short. Although crazy in some respect, the story worked well, and I wanted to know how far this was going to escalate for poor Jason!
