Dark Comedy Tag Archive

Live Action

Jack Turits Builds a Surreal, Darkly Humorous Exploration of Societal Absurdity in ‘Pun Intended’

Born from a list of puns, Jack Turits charts how he wove a trio of archetypal stories into a cohesive whole for his absurd wordplay-led situational short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Pardeep Sahota Explores the Commodification of Love in His Genre-Bending Dystopic Short ‘OK/NOTOK’

Pardeep Sahota dissects his decision to shoot his class-conscious exploration of a woman's near future tumultuous love life in a single locked-off shot.

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Live Action

Danny Jelinek Ships a Gamified Nightmare of Technocapitalism in Saturated Satire ‘Word of Mouth’

From sunny visuals to surreal decay, Danny Jelinek breaks down the dystopian world of his comedy about an AI-driven mobile app that commodifies conversations.

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Article, Live Action

Brent Michal Presents An Off-Beat Excursion Into Modern Love In Toxic Romance Short ‘Ponytailhead’

Brent Michal gets down to it about his latest short, an intimate and pretty gnarly take on modern love between two unpredictable and semi-questionable lovers.

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Live Action, Premiere

Sam Baron’s ‘Office Royale’ Is a Scathing Corporate Satire That Will Keep You Guessing Until the Final Bang

Sam Baron reveals how camerawork, coordinated stunts and top-notch performances combined to enhance the dark comedy of his bloody office survival short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Politeness Becomes Horror in Dave Paige’s Socially Anxious Dark Comedy ‘Deep Tish’

Dave Paige shares the inciting awkward massage which triggered his amusement, sparking the idea for his darkly comedic tale of socially anxious politeness.

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Live Action

A Darkly Obsessed Woman Contemplates the End of Everything in Matthew B.C.’s Comedy Short ‘Death!’

Matthew B.C. tells DN how he and his crew maximised their minimal budget to create a high-quality short that's both funny and unsettling.

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Awards, Live Action

An Online Annoyance Triggers a Complete Identity Crisis in Victoria Warmerdam’s Oscar Winning ‘I’m Not a Robot’

The lone genre film in the shorts Oscar race Victoria Warmerdam explains how a simple captcha fail became a gripping exploration of identity and control.

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Live Action

Brennan McGee Charts a Bizarre Journey Through the Human Psyche in Uncanny Short ‘Wesley Loses His Penis’

Brennan McGee reveals the formalist approach he took when shooting his psychologically absurd dark comedy about a man's surreal quest to find his member.

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Live Action, Premiere

Toni Hipwell’s ‘The Lure’ Reels in the Terror as a Fisherman Discovers He’s Not Alone Hoping for a Bite

Toni Hipwell tells DN how they achieved lush, detailed night time close-ups when shooting his macabre micro short about a lone fisherman's nocturnal surprise.

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Animation, Awards

How Nina Gantz Found the Perfect Balance Between Sadness and Humour in Award Winning Short ‘Wander to Wonder’

Nina Gantz takes DN inside the extraordinary craftsmanship of her stop motion short which offers a poignant exploration of loss for its diminutive stars.

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Live Action

Decisions Are Made by Bickering Committee in Samuel Häkkinen & Henna Välkky’s Comedy ‘Verdict 30001: The Cookies’

Samuel Häkkinen & Henna Välkky talk pre-shoot planning and splitting creative responsibilities on set for their dark comedy poking fun at decision paralysis.

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