Life is a game you sometimes win and sometimes lose. In Daniel Denegre’s short, life becomes a game that gives you all or takes everything from you. A man sits at a table outdoors. When he picks up his phone, there is a note underneath that tells him a code. There is no name on the message, nothing to identify the sender. He follows the written part exactly and finds out a little treasure and another note. This time he has to follow a longer path. The story goes on until our character finds the last letter on the street. The message is pretty bad, and thus there comes a game of trust. Will the man follow the instructions or ignore them completely?

 

In ‘The Game’, the ending, which is an open ending, is nothing but gripping, and that’s because everyone can imagine whatever outcome they wish to the whole situation. There are few possible outcomes to this short, and all of them are up to interpretation. If the notes are correct, then the man is in a bit of a sensitive situation that seems to have no way out; on the other hand, if the note is fake, the man can roam free… but at what cost? Suddenly, this story becomes one of life and death, and just because there is an outside power that manages the whole script, we cannot be sure where to go from here. We love it when there is an entire spectrum of possibilities as the narrative gets more and more depth.

​

Denegre’s short is uncommon, and that is what makes it unique. Few things are happening, but all of them are covered in mystery, and the fear of the unknown is right around the corner. As for the ending, we can easily say that we spotted a Schrödinger reference, as the man is at the same time alive and dead the second after the film ended.

​

Written by Vlad A. G