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| Images Courtesy of Playtime Motion Pictures |
Survival
horror is a unique subgenre whose entries are often harrowing tales of the
things that humans will do to ensure they continue to persist. Steven J.
Mihaljevich's (Violett, The Xrossing) latest feature
film, Shed expands this concept and filters it through the lens of
a resourceful young heroine. Featuring sequences of brutal violence,
pristine cinematography, and one of the year's most endearing central
performances, this is a macabre art house story of shocking loss, isolation,
and perseverance.
Mia is playing hide and seek with her family on Christmas break and during the course of the game she finds herself locked inside her family's outdoor shed. Soon a stranger arrives at the home and what follows is a terrifying game of cat and mouse as Mia is forced to survive on her own, while confronting an unimaginable evil. Mihaljevich also wrote the script, which is lean and mean. The two principals, Mia and the stranger communicate with minimal dialogue, however it is in their actions that they reveal themselves. Mia, portrayed by Mani Shanks is resourceful, cautious, and above all committed to surviving this ordeal. Juxtaposed to her is Jason Robert Lester's stranger, whose sickly demeanor is undercut by alcoholism and some rather unsavory habits. Each of these characters are avatars for light and darkness and their battle is one of wits and wills.
John Jarrat (Wolf Creek films) has a wicked cameo and perhaps triggers one of the best scenes of the film. Shane Piggot, long time Mihaljevich collaborator returns to lens the proceedings and his cinematography is both blissful and repulsive, continuing the theme of light and dark, beauty and monsters. The violence is abrupt, and in one case unexpected, as the introduction sets the tone that no one is safe. Virtually every scene with Mia involves a closeup, capturing her innocence and then the loss of such as the narrative progresses. Vibrant colors flood the optics to bring life to the Australian countryside, while also allowing the viewer to see how darkness slowly corrupts what once was pure.
Ultimately this is a story about a child doing whatever it takes to survive the unthinkable. One of the strongest aspects is the lack of dialogue. The words are sparse because this is an almost primal showdown between opposing thematic forces. The result is one of the most powerful films of the year and a truly bravura lead performance.
Debuting at Screamfest 2025 on Sunday October 12th, 9pm and coming hopefully very soon to digital, Shed is an unforgettable crucible of violence and hope. There cannot be light without darkness, and Mihaljevich and his talented cast and crew have fashioned a leviathan from the depths of terror and unleashed it into the shared cinematic subconscious. The only question is what nightmare will they conjure next?
--Kyle
Jonathan