Wes Edwards’s review published on Letterboxd:
An evocative short film by director Tim Hewitt, adapted from a 1939 story by Graham Greene. The story was a rare venture into the horror genre by Greene. Here Hewitt has given it a moody modern retelling, putting the horror elements in restrained but effective visual and sonic form to portray the mind of a writer who is losing his grip.
London crime novelist James Craven (well-played by an ashen Paul McGann) is struggling with writers block. More than that, his whole psychological state seems to be deteriorating. The film plays with the lines between past and present, living and dead, sleeping and waking, real and unreal, creator and created. James can't quite tell where those lines are anymore.
In addition, he is so occupied with ordering life in or through his crime novels that he is almost completely detached from the bounty of real life. His only connection is with his therapist (Owen Brenman).
There’s plenty here for several movies. This is just a fifteen-minute character study, but it works up quite a mood. It leaves the audience with a strong sense of what poor James is going through internally. At the end of the short runtime, the audience gets no clarity on his future or satisfying plot progression. Instead, we leave feeling the sense of disorder, disconnection and lack of control that James experiences outside his novels.
Hewitt himself may need a bigger creative outlet to explore all his ideas. This is an interesting and well-made film, but it is very densely packed. That suggests Hewitt has a lot more he might wish to say in future if he is given opportunity. I hope he does get a chance: He shows a lot of skill in borrowing from the horror genre but creating his own themes, tones and textures.
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*From my 2022 WanderList - One movie inspires the next