Indie Short Films: Nightfire (2020) - Reviewed



Nightfire is a beautifully shot political intrigue thriller that delivers impressive stunts and big explosions but doesn’t offer much in character or suspense.

Veteran character actor Dylan Baker is top-billed in this short, but sadly he fails to be believable as an Italian prisoner of war. He doesn’t seem like someone who barely knows English as a second language, but almost as if he has a cognitive impairment. This was a total miscast. 


The main character, Agent Carter (Lorenzo Pisoni) and his partner, Agent Ross (Greg Hadley) play cliched military types. One, a by-the-book do-gooder and the other, a square jawed, smart-talkin’ dude who “just likes to kill”. Shot on location in Italy, the action is exciting, and the backdrop of the city at night is stunning, there’s not much to attach to since the characters are so one-dimensional. Giving characters depth can be challenging when there’s only 42 minutes of screen time total, but these two rely on stereotypes and the writing comes across as lazy.




For those who may be interested in the type of plot with corrupt politicians and the military, you might find this movie to be fun. I like my action/thriller flicks to involve revenge, obsession, cracked killers with larger than life personalities, and not a lot of screen time for “suits”.  Between the sad Italian accent from Baker, the basic bro characters, and the political plot, I left this movie feeling lukewarm.

--Mara Powell