“There is no way out”. This could have been the tagline to Jay Bhatti’s short action-drama film, ‘The Talk’. A secret organization takes a man prisoner. During his interrogation, we find out that he used to work with them, but he stepped down for some time. The prisoner, played by David Omordia, and the interrogator, played by Dan Furlonger, are both aware of what is happening, and though they are on the same page, only one of them is willing to talk. There is danger at every step, and when it seems like you have very few steps you can take, it goes without saying that ‘tread lightly’ is the perfect advice to follow.
In ‘The Talk’ we found something exciting in regard to the characters and the way in which they were written. Watching the whole dialogue between the prisoner and the interrogator, we expected an extremely violent confrontation, both physical and verbal, but not just like that. When it comes to empathy, as much as we can talk about empathy in a movie with prisoners, the interrogator shows clear remorse signs. There is a certain point in this short when the prisoner starts talking, and one thing leads to another until he is the one asking questions, and the oppressive counterpart listens and answers with a certain kind of respect. This ‘unbalanced’ relationship is not typical, and maybe that is why it works so well, as this part certainly transforms the film for the better into a must-watch.
Both David Omorodia and Dan Furlonger play compelling characters that prove from the very start how entertaining they can become. It reminded us of that famous scene in ‘The Dark Night’ where Batman interrogates The Joker. As that scene is a centerpiece in the aforementioned film, so is the explosive dialogue here. If there is something to reproach to Jay Bhatti, that is the fact that his film is a little bit too short, and the narrative is left hanging, creating a build-up for a possible part two that may go on a different path, with a different action and more ramifications to the original story.
Written by Vlad A. G