'The Painting in the Lobby' represents one dream many have had – to make the person in the painting come to life. We've seen this move in the Harry Potter movies where the paintings could talk and move, where they were alive in their world, but they could not get out. There were times when they had answers humans were not possessing, and managed to help the ones asking. In 'The Painting in the Lobby' , however, the man in the painting has an extraordinary power, and he will use it in his favour.

 

What was surprising in Mycle Scheuer's short was the ability to tell a full story in such a short time, though at times we would have liked it to be a little bit longer, to try and give this story a little more perspective. There is a beginning, there is a climax, and there is an ending – everything comprised in under three minutes. What is more interesting is the power Scheuer gives to the viewer. We don't know anything about the man passing through the lobby, and at the same time we know very little about the painting, but their backstory is written in every viewer's mind as the short unveils the story.

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Pick a card – that is the climax of this movie, the element that turns the narrative upside down; when the card is picked, the collision between the two worlds starts, and soon enough it will make the world as the passerby knew become irrelevant.

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The place of the action was not a random pick, as the lobby is a place of passing, never a place of actually staying. We go through our lives as we go through different lobbies just to reach a room we find that fits for ourselves. And as much as we loved this metaphor in Mycle Scheuer's short, we believe more attention should have been given to the image, as at the moment, cinematography-wise, it looks uneven. Nevertheless, 'The Painting in the Lobby' is overall a both exciting and witty watch.

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Written by Vlad A. G