"Telling me not to freak out, I'm gonna freak out." This contained thriller short Cole & Colette explores anxiety, home invasion, and paranoia in a very palpable way. The interruption of safe home life is definitely something we can all relate with and makes for a tense, suspenseful and anxiety riddled thrill ride. It's the next chapter in the Get It Made shorts which span seemingly all genres, now we've arrived at the thriller, and it delivers. The filmmaking behind this grounded, realistic premise really elevates this above the rest within the genre, and pulls the rug out from underneath. Let's dive deeper into why this short thriller was effective.

The lead-in to this short is what really makes it effective. It sets you up to think it's going one way, and then it veers off in another direction. There is much tension and suspense as we build towards the exciting and shocking conclusion to this thriller. The writer and director do a great job of leading our hand and then pulling out the rug from underneath us. We don't feel comfortable, but we do recognize where it should be heading based on the cinematic language we've come to know but then subverts our expectations in the best way. I love me a good twist, especially when it's earned and serves the story well. And it was set up so perfectly from the beginning.

Nobody loves a payoff that was set up so well from the start more than I do. Cole & Colette does a terrific job of leading us to think one way then pulling something other than a rabbit out of the hat. As I alluded to earlier, the writer/director take us by the hand and lead us down familiar territory, then literally flip the script on us in the best way. Spoiler warning: we are led to believe that this was going to be a home invasion thriller the entire time, and it kind of is. But, with the reveal that Cole and Colette were trying to cover up a murder and get rid of the body the entire time was a nice way of ripping out the rug from underneath us as viewers by the end. Really, the invader of the home turned out to be the victim of a deal gone wrong with the criminal couple. And he was only trying to save who we can only presume to be his friend, only to be their next victim himself. This was very well done as I mentioned, we were in familiar cinematic territory, up until we weren't.

The other strongest aspect of this short thriller is the filmmaking behind it. I felt that it was a decent script but elevated by the strong filmmaking surrounding it. The way the director in tandem with the cinematographer build tension, and aided by the editor, it's so well done and it builds so nicely to the shocking conclusion. The way that it's shot and edited helps with the suspense and leads us down the familiar cinematic territory, only to unveil that we've been misled. This is, of course, due to our knowledge of other thrillers, but they turn it on its head so well to leave us fooled, but ultimately satisfied.

Overall, Cole & Colette is a solid short thriller that does exactly what it sets out to do: unsettle us and then shock and surprise with the well-executed twist ending. The set up for the ultimate payoff is done in such a terrific way that we're anxious in suspense the entire time, and then our eyes pop out of our heads with the compelling finale. The twist is well placed and well executed, and best of all, it's earned and organic. The filmmaking surrounding this impressive production is outstanding and really comes as no surprise that Get It Made was behind this one.

Rating: Good

Cole & Colette is a Get It Made Production and can be found on YouTube, and their website, along with the screenplay available to read. The link to the film can be found here.