‘Desert Rats’ presents the story of Commander David Righter stranded in The Sahara Desert in 1942. His options are limited, he is wounded, his water can runs out, the desert heat is becoming harsh and natural dangers are everywhere. The only way of living this hell is to not lose hope.

This short is splendid, and we don’t say that very often. And this is way more impressive as we’ve noticed 'Desert Rats' is William Kresch’s first movie. For a debut movie you can’t expect anything more, because ‘Desert Rats’ has everything.

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After watching it, one can easily see that hard work has been put in cinematography and the editing – we tried to find a part where things needed improvement but taken as a whole, we couldn't find any as this short is very well balanced. Also, the score and the sound editing was good – right after the ending scene there comes a song that lifts the whole pulse of the short and leaves you with the general sensation that things are going to be all right in the end.

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We will now focus our attention on the main character, Commander David Righter, played by Matthew Kresch. We’ve had in our festival some movies regarding this theme of war in different forms. Usually, the characters weren’t standing out and the main focus of the short was on the action per se. In ‘Desert Rats’ all the attention is focused on Matthew Kresch and he is doing an amazing job, being an inspiring character and at the same time a very good judge of his own strengths and flaws.

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The story has ups and downs, going from pessimistic to optimistic and back, every minute. As a viewer it keeps you connected, never knowing whether the main character will die in the next scene or live long enough to see himself rescued by someone.

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A great short you shouldn’t miss!

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Written by Vlad A. G