Shaft of Light

This strange little short film by Bill Tonlinson first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997. "Shaft of Light" is a nice mixture of sci-fi, dystopian, and weird themes. While some might contend that it has more of the first two features mentioned than the last, it is definitely nightmarish and surreal. The style and themes detectable in this piece are also very much in line with the weird. It's worth remembering that weird fiction in recent years by the likes of Thomas Ligotti and Michael Cisco often incorporates an atmosphere that could be described as dystopian or an alternate reality. "Shaft of Light" also echoes Ligotti's obsession with human facsimiles like puppets, as well as his dystopian universe dripping with meaningless work seen in stories like "The Town Manager" and "Our Temporary Supervisor."

Some commentators have identified this specific strain of grungy, malevolent socio-political features as a defining element of the so-called "New Weird." Whatever the case, the idea is certainly nightmarish enough. Perhaps because the meaninglessness of the day jobs featured in such cases, as well as their prevailing environment devoid of prosperity or individuality, so closely reflects our own world as it boils into Meltdown mode.



-Grim Blogger