Film Review: Last Call + Q&A 2023

The Cinema In The Power Station, London

5 stars

Director: Harry Holland

UK rating: 

Length: 19 minutes

Cast: Lindsay Duncan, Tom Holland

This review contains mentions of poor mental health and suicide.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LAST CALL

When I saw Harry Holland’s Instagram story advertising a screening and Q&A of his latest short that was happening on the first day of my London birthday trip I knew I had to be there. Holland is probably most well known for being Tom Holland’s younger brother but I think in the future this is sure to change as he starts to be recognised for his own artistry. 

Last Call isn’t Holland’s first short but it’s bound to be the one that people talk about for years to come. At 19 minutes long it is a stunning piece of work. Certainly a film to be proud of. Last Call tells the story of Kate (Lindsay Duncan) and her son, Charlie (Tom Holland). Kate goes to meet up with Charlie, seemingly for the first time in a while and the tension is high. They converse and it’s pretty clear that something in the situation is off. As it turns out the bar scene isn’t real but instead an instance of the afterlife, Charlie had killed himself. It becomes clear that Kate is there as she has also tried to commit suicide by inhaling the exhaust fumes from her car.

Both Lindsay Duncan and Tom Holland are incredible actors, this is something I knew before going into this film, but their ability to treat this storyline with the respect it deserves and be able to act it in a way that feels authentic is something to be admired. The acting is truly haunting and even a week later as I write this I can’t get their performances out of my head. I do hope to see Duncan and T Holland work together again as their chemistry was great! The ensemble cast appearing in both the real life and the afterlife scenes was an interesting choice. As if the people Kate saw on her was to attempting suicide were all the people she could think of to fill out the pub in her head. 

Last Call is a stunning piece of work, both in terms of the storyline but also visually. The cinematography, done by Natasha Mullan, was the standout of this film for me. In the real life scenes the colours were bright and there were lots of yellows, which to me shows life. Whereas in the afterlife scenes it was very muted and darker, there were lots of blue tinges, quite similar to the first Twilight film I thought. There was also a haziness with smoke around the room in the pub of the afterlife. This really helps show the difference between the two kinds of scene.

The direction from Holland was spectacular. I enjoyed the initial lower angles of the pub scene, a forced perspective to make you look up at the characters to insinuate that the scene is not real. I look forward to seeing more work from Holland in the future! He created Last Call in a way that was heartbreakingly beautiful, I can only imagine the kind of thing Holland is capable of.