Who do you rely on when the job goes south? An underworld crime boss (Laura Stisser) calls upon a fixer named Franklin (Ralph Sepe) to escort her daughter Emma (Cait Blancaflor) throughout her big night out in the city. Shadowed by a close associate in Alexandra (Ari Vail), the evening quickly takes a turn for the worse, leaving Franklin to fend off a dangerous threat.
Written, directed and edited by Ralph Sepe, the short’s plot may not be particularly noteworthy, but within its genre, the story’s inherent originality is not the primary focus. Action filmmaking is a notoriously difficult craft to master at the indie level. Set pieces, choreography, stunts, props—the list goes on. In many ways, Whispers in Shadows works at a fundamental level. There’s an ominous feeling that looms over Franklin’s every move, and you get the sense of a potential conflict brewing throughout. The cinematography of Paul Pierantozzi echoes the high-contrast look of early Craig-era Bond films (Casino Royale comes to mind), and Elías Ortega’s deep, droning score is well-utilized, but there’s always some matter of weight missing from the actual action sequences.
The film’s solid VFX work cannot compensate for the lackluster sound design, which fails to give each firearm or fisticuffs the satisfying punctuation they deserve. Whenever there is a hand-to-hand engagement, it’s clearly sped up or shot in a way that makes it difficult to discern what exactly is going on. It’s a real shame too, because the short has a lot of promising elements, like an extended scene featuring a sniper and a car chase that looks far better than it has any right to be.
The screenplay is another crucial area where Whispers in Shadows falls short. We never learn anything meaningful about the world we are in through character interactions. It’s all just exposition on top of exposition, a means to an end. Oddly enough, the film works best when it forgoes dialogue, allowing Franklin to be alone with his thoughts and his weapons. Sepe doesn’t quite fit the look of a grizzled fixer, but his stoic mannerisms certainly make him a capable lead—one capable of mustering a basic level of intrigue whenever he’s a silent observer.
A handful of standout moments make Whispers in Shadows a decent actioner from Ralph Sepe.
