My interpretation is that the monster isn't actually real and that this is just a mother battling grief and post-partum psychosis. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to return to my sobbing.
I'll further add to this by saying I think the entity is meant to be the temptation of death. It's obviously quite creepy and terrifying, but it also held her gently while she stared fixated on the glowing urn, like she wanted so badly to join her baby on the 'other side'. In the end, she realized her own psychosis, and threw the urn, symbolizing her rejection of the idea of dying. All you can do, after all, is pick up the pieces and try to move on.
The fact she broke the vase an was tempted by the noise for a second at the end, showing a rebuilding of a life without the child, and throwing away the radios yer the demon was most likely figurative. I think its a good way of showing how we grieve in stages we dont do it all in one go we do braking down a wall an rebuilding it so to speak so the vase reminded me of that. Especially the idea of the missing hole in the centre, which often grief feels like a depression can feel like sort of "youll be okay, but things wont be the same"
I love the symbolism of the broken urn at the end, like it’s saying that there will always be a piece missing, but the urn (or the spirit) is still there
This was so tragic. The mother looks like a very tired, emotionally exhausted grieving mother. This feels like getting inside the mind of a grieving mother. The sounds of her baby's cries and illness repeating in her head, the specter of pain lurking around the urn. Like the monster IS her grief and pain, but there's a little hope at the end for her healing and moving forward.
@@orxy5316also, I found the comment you’re referring to. The comment was someone else’s interpreting it the way you described, not the creator explicitly stating that’s what it is. So my feelings on this film aren’t “wrong.” The creator said he liked that person’s unique take on it. You should perhaps have fully read what they were saying before telling me I’m wrong.
Never gonna say an interpretation is wrong unless it’s blatantly insulting or something. Appreciate the variety of interpretations including this one! ✌️
Thank you for not adding loud jumpscares in your works. I really appreciate horror that can just have tension and be unsettling while also being sad, remorseful or thoughtful
I really, really love the horror universe you build. It feels less like it's full of aggressive evil beings, and more full of "traps". You can be living your life and trigger a supernatural trap, allowing an evil entity that operates on its own strict set of rules to suddenly infect your life, and while you can successfully evade it/close the trap if you figure out the rules, if you don't recognize it quickly enough, you will die. It's a consistent vibe I get from your films, and a take on horror I've not seen before. I dig the hell out of it.
I was just thinking that feeling is what reminds me of the magnus archives, a horror podcast that has a premise of falling into "traps" of evil entities if you're vulnerable or not careful enough
In this one, I dont think the entity is evil. Thats the best part of this short films, not every "monster" needs to be evil to cause fear. Its the atmosphere.
Jennifer Taher, you ROCKED this! What a stupendous display of emotions, from heartbreak to terror! She’s incredibly skilled, my compliments to her as well as the rest of the crew behind you and her, Dylan Clark! This really broke my heart to watch but was also so captivating. The tension, the scares, the premise, all were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoy your horror every time. The protagonists are never stupid, they always have reason for their actions. I can’t blame this mother for being driven mad with grief. You’re a master of horror, up there with Ari Aster in my opinion. I’m ECSTATIC to see the behind the scenes as well as more projects from you and your team! 💖
Jenny is absolutely wonderful. I second everything you're saying here about her performance. Thanks so much for the comment, I'm really glad you enjoyed the film! ❤️
I almost didn't continue watching after the intro; we have a one-year-old and the very thought of losing them causes physical reactions in me. This short is a great metaphor for grief. However, I found it odd that the creature was smiling; I feel like that took away from the metaphor, as if the "other" in this horror story had some kind of agenda. I think something meant to represent despair from loss would appear visually neutral (like a face with zero features or even just a blank expression), despite being an anguishing force. Not every monster needs to have a slasher grin, something that shows up a lot in your work. :) And trust me, this is not to take away from how well made this is: the cinematography, the lighting, the editing, the acting, the sound, all of it is fantastic work that you and the crew should be incredibly proud of. Amazing film, Dylan and co. As always, I can't wait to see what you make next.
I was pretty nervous about tackling a subject matter that's so clearly sensitive. Really wanted to make sure the film had a positive message to share and a respectful ending given that. I appreciate you watching through despite your reservation. The smiling creature comment is totally fair! Definitely a bit of a trope that we played into. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Great, now I’m depressed :( I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it must be to lose a child, especially a baby. I hope that anyone going through such a tragic event is able to recover and be comforted in the thought that they’ll be reunited with that child again someday. ❤
A good friend of mine lost her baby from a tragic miscarriage, she still mourns everyday and cries for her unborn baby. Best I can do is be there for her and let her know it was NOT her fault.
Jesus Christ, that was an incredible short film, wow. The story was tragic, the noises of the baby quite frankly terrifyingly sad, the costume design and camerawork were incredible, this was truly beautiful.
this is so very, very sad, but man, what an incredible depiction of grief. i lost my brother 6 years ago, almost to the day, of seeing this. holding onto all that pain doesnt bring them back. its ok to mourn. but chasing the grief like that only brings you pain. i could never imagine losing my kid. this was so well written and well acted.
I like how bittersweet the ending is. The mother was in a lot of pain but in the end all of what she had to go through made her accept the death of her child. The movie starts with her staring at the urn, and it ends with her walking away from it. I also like that at the end you don't see anything that would indicate that the demon is still there (like through the cracks on the urn or smth). Makes me believe that she was haunted by her own grief and ,once she accepted the death of her child, she wasn't haunted anymore. (sorry if i made any mistake english isn't my first language)
This is so beautiful and sad, especially when the mother began to smile when she heard her baby in the urn. What really was impressive was the jump scare at around 6:35. The way you build tension of the monster holding the urn, and the way the baby's colorful lights momentarily lights up the terrifying monster genuinely horrified me. I was also thinking at the end that why didn't she just bury the urn, but then I remembered that it's still her child in the urn and that's what really shows the mother's love. Brava! :)
I’ve seen many, MANY horror shorts over the past several years from all the top sources and just all over. I finally stumbled into this just now and this is the kind of work I’ve really been looking for. It is just done so well. Unsettling, spooky, tragic, bleak (but not enough where it makes it depressing). It’s very effective in so many ways. Really impressed with this one.
You certainly have a knack for teary-eyed protagonists staring into infinity haha. No but seriously I'm sure there will be a lot of comments about how professional and high-budget this thing looks, but above all of that is how well written this story is. Concise, clever, structured, unexpected. You nailed it, hope you keep making more!
@@000aleph Because art is inherently subjective! And anyways it's a simple story of a woman accepting the death of her child, and pretty focused at that, not sure what is aimless about it.
I'm sure I lack the strength to live thru the pain of losing a child, and I can't help but admire people who do so, I never really understood what fear was until my son was born. Not that I was fearless before him, it's just that, thinking back there I had really nothing to worry about, all of a sudden a new world of what fear is opened to me. It's my worst nightmare, if he is ever gone...I'm sure I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Wow. Wow wow wow. This reminds me how powerful and frankly terrifying grief can be. The lack of dialogue gives it a feeling of overwhelming tension and the lighting showed how much the main character was struggling. Absolutely incredible.
Tried to watch it. After eight seconds I had to stop. My baby was crying the last two days non stop because she's sick. Hearing more crying babies is the worst horror I could imagine right now. Hopefully when she is better in a few days and I had time to recover from the stress I can watch this short. I loved all your movies and I am sure I will love this one, too. It was, as usual, a really good short movie. Not so much horror, but I felt a lot.
Incredibly unsettling in the best way! The actress was terrific! The story was unnerving! Love the hand coming out of the urn- wicked! Also, the camera movement was so great! Terrifying short! Fantastic work!
Dude, big props for so consistently coming-up with stuff that's not only creative and well-paced but that also manages to feel purposeful and rewarding. I'm once again genuinely impressed. You've got some great ideas.
Nothing would get me into a movie theater faster than seeing your name as the director. I absolutely love your shorts and hope to one day see your name on a full-length film, too. Seriously some of the most compelling and terrifying horror I’ve ever witnessed, great job man. You could be the next Ari Aster 👀
Loved this. The emotions of the mother felt so real, close to brought me to tears, and the ambiguity of the monster's reality sets this in stone as a close to perfect project to me.
One of the best acting performances I’ve ever seen in YT horror short films (and I have seen hundreds of short films) excellent work, I appreciate the movie doesn’t end on a jumpscare, 10/10 for this film, EXCELLENT acting, perfect pacing, beautiful cinematography, well done everybody involved 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
From what knowledge I know about this. This was some sort of demon, spirit or entity what have you that clings on to a person's grief or memories of the lost and twists those to its will to trick the ones who are grieving into its trap to feed off of that struggle. If that's the case, very well done. I can't imagine what its like losing a child that came from within me. Something I bared for several months and grew from a tiny cellular seed and protected it all that time. All to be snuffed away all of a sudden. The emotion gained from that must be just so.. Extremely disruptive for the life you set out for and just completely unfair. I think that it portrays well in this short film in showing how dangerous, from a realistic point (not evil spirits), life changing scenarios can have on the mental health of women. Enough to make them go nearly insane just like what may have been going on with the mother. Its entirely possible that all the stress put this in her head because it is such a real thing that happens to mothers around the world. Losing their baby. Its like when little kids go to school and you don't think about what could happen to them. Then one day.. they're just.... GONE. For no reason except that they just happened to be there. It sucks.
So excited to see an alert that Dylan Clark had posted a new video. This was a great short- really felt all of this poor woman’s emotions and loved the subtle sightings of the “monster” who was truly terrifying. Great job!!!! ❤
Fantastic work. The creature reveal actually gave me shivers, the tension during the climax while not as horrifying as i would've expected still did the job and and i basically took that "mamma" as an hit damn. Amazing work on the makeup, for the hand and body, it was my only complains with portrait of god that it was somewhat ruined compared to what was show in the making, but i am happy to see it here. Edit: actually here's my only complaint the ashes..... the urn seem nore important than the asces themselves, maybe i am missing something but it somehow feel like the priority are switched, like too much on the meaning insteading of thinking about how horrifying it must be for her to have the baby ashes on the hands.
Logistically, wise production desicions. One character, one setting. Brilliant use of sound, lighting, and editing. There's fodder here for a feature-length film, like "Laura Can't Sleep" became "Smile." You will follow in the footsteps of Ari Aster.
It may be lost in the sea of comments on this video, but I cannot even begin to convey how addicted I am to your work. The photography, the tension, everything is so incredibly perfect, without even mentioning things like the scenario and the realization. Being a huge fan of cinema, and of horror more than anything else, I'm not afraid to say you are one of my few absolutely favorite artists. I think you deserve all the praise you receive and so much more, and if you ever released any kind of long feature movie, I would be one of the first to go and see it, without a doubt. I hope I managed to share how much your work impacts me creatively, and how much I admire it. I'd be ecstatic to see more of what you create, and I hope you never lose that fantastic spark you seem to have!
I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. We had some very scary close calls with respiratory illness with my son, and though he's now a happy five year old, I remember all of the dark thoughts and fear in those uncertain moments. But I do see this as a story of processing grief.
After some processing, that was difficult to watch but I'm glad that I did. It gave me some hope, oddly enough. The monster was dwelling on the tragedy, and she literally had to pick up the pieces.
I was really nervous about making this because I knew it could cause some people some pain. It's very much meant to be a positive arc for the character. If I was going to tell a story like this, it absolutely had to end on an empowered and positive note. I'm sorry for stirring those memories for you, but I'm glad that the intention rang through upon reflection. Wishing you and your family all the best.
@@dylanclark I chose to watch the video. As soon as it started I knew it could take me to an uncomfortable place, and it was my choice to continue. And I trusted you to treat it sensitively, which you did. Thank you for your work!
@@dylanclark It's important to make these kind of awareness films, because then people who sadly relate, can use this as a tool to show those who don't understand how it really feels. Like me personally, never had kids, and for my own body's safety, don't want em. But this also opened my mind to show more and more compassion to those who have suffered a traumatic loss or gone through a health scare with their own kids. Truly an amazing and heart wrenching film that can help both sides understand this type of subject.
As a father of a 7 month old who recently recovered from RSV, the opening was really painful for me. Regardless, this is absolutely one of, if not the best short films I have ever seen. Good work!
That was such a perfect ending, i was expecting something like the hand appair again or something like all the horrors, and was prepared to "bruh i was expecting that", but the fact that it end like that left me shocked! Good job!!!
Damn dude, how are these all SO GOOD? They have firmly established "rules" for the spooky spectres, and it does it all with hardly any dialogue. So great.
I absolutely adore how you do suspense and how not everything is loud and explosive but still manages to give off the same effect--more often even better than others. Another absolutely amazing short film--and an extremely wonderful performance from the actors along with the skin-crawling score. I love this so much.
I truly believe that you're one of the greatest minds in horror today. With each and every new short, you're perfecting your style of filmmaking and that style is incredible. Your work is extraordinary, and I would love to see a full-length film by you in the future.
this is BEAUTIFUL! i usually don't say that about films, but this is geuinely one of my new favorite things i've ever seen. i love how its so telling even with only really one actor, and pulls at your heart- while still being scary. amazing work!
Holy crap! This is just heads and shoulders above almost everything else I've seen in terms of short horror films on TH-cam! The sound design is astounding! Managing to get these sound bites of babies coughing and crying. So much production value! The acting! Wow, that lady as the protagonist did an AMAZING job! I was crying as she was, experiencing her pain. The simple and grounded cinematography was just perfect. Goodness me. The visual effects were amazing! Really elevated the film! I got goosebumps! The script! I genuinely didn't know what to expect next. Having an original story in a horror short is not easy! Outstanding.
I don’t normally get scared when you see the actual creature. Half the time it takes me out. I legit Jumped at the bottom of the stairs. And now paused fighting with myself to finish! Bravo!
im 21 so i havent even experienced much but I did experience grief. It's so amazing how grief is such a universal thing no matter what age you are that I can feel and relate to how the mother felt.
This kind of things hit different as a parent. What I found most terrifying is the kid's death itself, the rest of the horror is kinda diluted after something that hits that hard. Anyway, as always this is a masterclass of tempo and narrative restraint. Amazing work.
I'm not even a parent and I felt ten times more horror and dread when it turned out her poor baby passed. I may be desensitized to horror media like, demons, ghosts, serial killers, but babies passing away is just unbearable.
Dylan man, what a unique short. Portrait of God has been my favorite horror short for the last year and I’ve been eagerly awaiting your next work. You have this perfect blend between the demonic and the cosmic unknown that I just don’t think any other storytellers are doing in the horror space. When can we expect a feature?
This means a lot. I really appreciate it. I've got a lot of stuff in the works, but it's hard to promise any timeline with a feature until it's really in motion. Hopefully in the near future though...! We'll see.
shoutout to dmottt (danny motta) for bringing up this short. never would've found it let alone know about this channel. crazy creepy. nice one Dylan Clark. will watch more short films!
“Grief makes monsters of us all.” The red-lining on the baby monitor when it started coughing got to me right away. And the visceral sadness that hit when she dropped the urn on the carpet. God, this is so well done.
My man, me and my friend discovered you with "The Portrait of God", and after that we saw all your videos. You are one of the most talented Director, we just love you and we hope you the best for your career
wow. truly incredible. have been binge watching short horror films and nothing has truly terrified me until this video. from the story, to the acting, to the performance, it encapsulated the true meaning of a horror film. incredible. props to you!
Jesus! Que criatura é essa?! Parabéns, uma produção ótima! A trilha sonora, os momentos de tenção e aquela criatura realmente deram aquele frio na espinha que te faz gritar ou congelar de medo! Meus parabéns mais uma vez! 😊
I have followed your channel since potrait of god and I absolutely love the use of color and lighting you follow throughout in your projects. Eagerly looking forward to other projects.
Dude this is genius, incredible work. Jennifer absolutely crushed it, putting the toy inside the urn for a changing light source like that, the deranged spirit using the tragic despair of a mother losing her infant son against her.... fuckin diabolical man. Awesome. Also made me think of how people can get lost in a tragedy, and it can keep them from living their lives. My favorite so far, can't wait for the next ones.
I am new to these short form horror stories but got damn are they great!! In 4-12 mins you can accomplish what she know can't do in 2 hours!! Really great film
All I can think after watching this film is... We belong to the earth and we should end there... As dust. Otherwise entities will always be lurking around our unburied souls. Great great Film!!!
Bro like fucking literally you got me goosebumps bro this short film was way better then regular length ones. The concept of horror that you keep in the videos is really terrifying and well presented. Keep this shit up
That. Was. So. GOOD! I've seen tons of these horror shorts, and while people seem to find many of them terrifying, I find them somewhat lackluster. This was refreshing!
As a fan of horror, movies, and shorts, i can say that this short was classy, the mother going throw the lost of her baby, having the grief of the vulnerabbility that the tragic situation brings, along side with that, the love of a mother wich seems to have some kind of psychosis, but at the same time , it might be that, the soul of her baby is warning her from the monster that is tormenting her. The movie physically is pretty simple, not much happening, but mentally that so many cenarios, and by tthe way, it is pretty scary, its been a long time, since i felt scared from a horror movie, the goosebumps said so, specifically in the part where she looks down on stairs, that part was one of the best scary parts i have ever seen. Very good job indeed! Im sharing with family this short. This short needs public. 😄
Dark. Creepy. Engaging. I absolutely love your work. I feel like this and Portrait of God is connected which is the most interesting part about your films. Great job!
The beginning of the story almost brought me, a fully grown man, into tears. I just can't watch at mother's grief of loss it's so heartbreaking. I can't even imagine how excruciating the pain of loss of your own child can be. Especially if a little baby dies, it's so hard for me to watch
Bravo. It's extremely sad and extremely eerie. And everything worked well everything was in its places nothing unnecessary. Pure evil, madness, grief and sadness. You are so talented I'll keep on repeating this!
This will not resonate with as many people as some of your other horror shorts. But as a dad, even the beginning with the child heavily coughing is absolute dread to any parent who had to go through the ordeal of a very ill kid. It's something I could never really empathize with until I went through it. Horror can have many forms, thank you for this story!
I have just re-watched all your movies once again and you just present us a new one 😍 It's incredible, usually you can't find a good horror movie nowadays, but I type this comment just because I'm too scared to continue watching it 😅
My interpretation is that the monster isn't actually real and that this is just a mother battling grief and post-partum psychosis. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to return to my sobbing.
❤
I'll further add to this by saying I think the entity is meant to be the temptation of death. It's obviously quite creepy and terrifying, but it also held her gently while she stared fixated on the glowing urn, like she wanted so badly to join her baby on the 'other side'.
In the end, she realized her own psychosis, and threw the urn, symbolizing her rejection of the idea of dying. All you can do, after all, is pick up the pieces and try to move on.
Me using nasa's radar to find who asked ?
The fact she broke the vase an was tempted by the noise for a second at the end, showing a rebuilding of a life without the child, and throwing away the radios yer the demon was most likely figurative.
I think its a good way of showing how we grieve in stages we dont do it all in one go we do braking down a wall an rebuilding it so to speak so the vase reminded me of that. Especially the idea of the missing hole in the centre, which often grief feels like a depression can feel like sort of "youll be okay, but things wont be the same"
of course there's always people trying to negate the supernatural in every film
I love the symbolism of the broken urn at the end, like it’s saying that there will always be a piece missing, but the urn (or the spirit) is still there
That and that maybe she doesn’t keep her grief bottled up anymore
or, it could be that despite her being broken, there is still resilience left in her
This was good, my theory was the baby's ghost was warning the mom about the entity and it fed on grief. Solid A+ Mr. Clark.
This was so tragic. The mother looks like a very tired, emotionally exhausted grieving mother. This feels like getting inside the mind of a grieving mother. The sounds of her baby's cries and illness repeating in her head, the specter of pain lurking around the urn. Like the monster IS her grief and pain, but there's a little hope at the end for her healing and moving forward.
You are wrong, he responds a comment below that it is an entity that one can attract and operates under certain set of rules o
Ok? That’s not the interpretation I got from the film and it’s not obvious. It still feels like the mom dealing with grief.
@@orxy5316also, I found the comment you’re referring to. The comment was someone else’s interpreting it the way you described, not the creator explicitly stating that’s what it is. So my feelings on this film aren’t “wrong.” The creator said he liked that person’s unique take on it. You should perhaps have fully read what they were saying before telling me I’m wrong.
@@karenduvall1415 well he did liked the comment and responded to it positively
Never gonna say an interpretation is wrong unless it’s blatantly insulting or something. Appreciate the variety of interpretations including this one! ✌️
Thank you for not adding loud jumpscares in your works.
I really appreciate horror that can just have tension and be unsettling while also being sad, remorseful or thoughtful
there was atleast 2 jumpscares to me i read this comment before watching thanks for scaring the living daylights out of me
@@Xei-ssi fr this comment catfished me LMAO
@@SaifAli-kq9bv the jumpscares werent loud tho. Still made me jump
I really, really love the horror universe you build. It feels less like it's full of aggressive evil beings, and more full of "traps". You can be living your life and trigger a supernatural trap, allowing an evil entity that operates on its own strict set of rules to suddenly infect your life, and while you can successfully evade it/close the trap if you figure out the rules, if you don't recognize it quickly enough, you will die. It's a consistent vibe I get from your films, and a take on horror I've not seen before. I dig the hell out of it.
So glad that they feel unique in that way to you. Sincerely appreciate the support!
I was just thinking that feeling is what reminds me of the magnus archives, a horror podcast that has a premise of falling into "traps" of evil entities if you're vulnerable or not careful enough
Well said. In this piece, the trap is her grief, and her desire to cling to a past that is gone. She wins.
In this one, I dont think the entity is evil. Thats the best part of this short films, not every "monster" needs to be evil to cause fear. Its the atmosphere.
@@taras6443Love that podcast!! Apparently, they're bringing an actual love action series out based on it!!
Jennifer Taher, you ROCKED this! What a stupendous display of emotions, from heartbreak to terror! She’s incredibly skilled, my compliments to her as well as the rest of the crew behind you and her, Dylan Clark! This really broke my heart to watch but was also so captivating. The tension, the scares, the premise, all were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoy your horror every time. The protagonists are never stupid, they always have reason for their actions. I can’t blame this mother for being driven mad with grief. You’re a master of horror, up there with Ari Aster in my opinion. I’m ECSTATIC to see the behind the scenes as well as more projects from you and your team! 💖
Jenny is absolutely wonderful. I second everything you're saying here about her performance. Thanks so much for the comment, I'm really glad you enjoyed the film! ❤️
I almost didn't continue watching after the intro; we have a one-year-old and the very thought of losing them causes physical reactions in me. This short is a great metaphor for grief. However, I found it odd that the creature was smiling; I feel like that took away from the metaphor, as if the "other" in this horror story had some kind of agenda. I think something meant to represent despair from loss would appear visually neutral (like a face with zero features or even just a blank expression), despite being an anguishing force. Not every monster needs to have a slasher grin, something that shows up a lot in your work. :) And trust me, this is not to take away from how well made this is: the cinematography, the lighting, the editing, the acting, the sound, all of it is fantastic work that you and the crew should be incredibly proud of. Amazing film, Dylan and co. As always, I can't wait to see what you make next.
I was pretty nervous about tackling a subject matter that's so clearly sensitive. Really wanted to make sure the film had a positive message to share and a respectful ending given that. I appreciate you watching through despite your reservation. The smiling creature comment is totally fair! Definitely a bit of a trope that we played into. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
It was hard for me to get through as well, having a 2 year old and another on the way. The thought of losing my children, worst fear.
Great, now I’m depressed :( I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it must be to lose a child, especially a baby. I hope that anyone going through such a tragic event is able to recover and be comforted in the thought that they’ll be reunited with that child again someday. ❤
A good friend of mine lost her baby from a tragic miscarriage, she still mourns everyday and cries for her unborn baby. Best I can do is be there for her and let her know it was NOT her fault.
@@TinyToadSageabsolutely. i feel so sorry for those who are forced to such a tragic loss .. :( i hope she gets better soon
Noone should have to burry a child. It is really that simple.
I Lost My 2 Kids Right After Giving Birth...They Are In Fosterhome Now...I Miss Them Soo Much..😭😭
😭😭😭
Jesus Christ, that was an incredible short film, wow. The story was tragic, the noises of the baby quite frankly terrifyingly sad, the costume design and camerawork were incredible, this was truly beautiful.
Thanks so much!
And the actress extremely convincing, what an acting range!
PLUS a director who knows what he is doing!
@@dylanclarkswear with Muhammads name instead
Have faith in Jesus alone to be saved. ❤
🤓
this is so very, very sad, but man, what an incredible depiction of grief. i lost my brother 6 years ago, almost to the day, of seeing this. holding onto all that pain doesnt bring them back. its ok to mourn. but chasing the grief like that only brings you pain. i could never imagine losing my kid. this was so well written and well acted.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Thanks so much for the lovely comment ❤
Thank you for the beautiful video. its a really great way to depict it. @@dylanclark
I like how bittersweet the ending is. The mother was in a lot of pain but in the end all of what she had to go through made her accept the death of her child. The movie starts with her staring at the urn, and it ends with her walking away from it.
I also like that at the end you don't see anything that would indicate that the demon is still there (like through the cracks on the urn or smth). Makes me believe that she was haunted by her own grief and ,once she accepted the death of her child, she wasn't haunted anymore.
(sorry if i made any mistake english isn't my first language)
Baby you don't have to apologize for doing the hard work here. You learned a new language to make it easier for they to understand. Be proud!
Damn are you sure you aren’t a native english speaker? Your english is really good. I couldn’t see even one mistake. Good job!
Senti dó da moça ela só queria o filho de volta
A dor de uma mãe ninguém tira
Pse
This is so beautiful and sad, especially when the mother began to smile when she heard her baby in the urn. What really was impressive was the jump scare at around 6:35. The way you build tension of the monster holding the urn, and the way the baby's colorful lights momentarily lights up the terrifying monster genuinely horrified me.
I was also thinking at the end that why didn't she just bury the urn, but then I remembered that it's still her child in the urn and that's what really shows the mother's love. Brava! :)
I’ve seen many, MANY horror shorts over the past several years from all the top sources and just all over. I finally stumbled into this just now and this is the kind of work I’ve really been looking for. It is just done so well. Unsettling, spooky, tragic, bleak (but not enough where it makes it depressing). It’s very effective in so many ways. Really impressed with this one.
Thanks so much for the nice comment! Glad the film worked for you on that level.
You certainly have a knack for teary-eyed protagonists staring into infinity haha. No but seriously I'm sure there will be a lot of comments about how professional and high-budget this thing looks, but above all of that is how well written this story is. Concise, clever, structured, unexpected. You nailed it, hope you keep making more!
Interesting, I found it aimless, unstructured and trivial. How did you come away with the opposite impression?
@@000aleph Because art is inherently subjective! And anyways it's a simple story of a woman accepting the death of her child, and pretty focused at that, not sure what is aimless about it.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the story.
bhakk
@@dylanclark
The one thing many horror stories forget is that they must have a genuine story underneath. You all rocked this and the acting was phenomenal.
I'm sure I lack the strength to live thru the pain of losing a child, and I can't help but admire people who do so, I never really understood what fear was until my son was born.
Not that I was fearless before him, it's just that, thinking back there I had really nothing to worry about, all of a sudden a new world of what fear is opened to me. It's my worst nightmare, if he is ever gone...I'm sure I wouldn't be able to handle it.
Wow. Wow wow wow. This reminds me how powerful and frankly terrifying grief can be. The lack of dialogue gives it a feeling of overwhelming tension and the lighting showed how much the main character was struggling. Absolutely incredible.
Tried to watch it. After eight seconds I had to stop. My baby was crying the last two days non stop because she's sick. Hearing more crying babies is the worst horror I could imagine right now. Hopefully when she is better in a few days and I had time to recover from the stress I can watch this short. I loved all your movies and I am sure I will love this one, too.
It was, as usual, a really good short movie. Not so much horror, but I felt a lot.
I appreciate that you came back to it. Wishing you and your kid the best ❤
Incredibly unsettling in the best way! The actress was terrific! The story was unnerving! Love the hand coming out of the urn- wicked! Also, the camera movement was so great! Terrifying short! Fantastic work!
Thanks so much!
Dude, big props for so consistently coming-up with stuff that's not only creative and well-paced but that also manages to feel purposeful and rewarding. I'm once again genuinely impressed. You've got some great ideas.
Thanks so much! Glad its been working for you. Really appreciate it.
Nothing would get me into a movie theater faster than seeing your name as the director. I absolutely love your shorts and hope to one day see your name on a full-length film, too. Seriously some of the most compelling and terrifying horror I’ve ever witnessed, great job man. You could be the next Ari Aster 👀
Loved this. The emotions of the mother felt so real, close to brought me to tears, and the ambiguity of the monster's reality sets this in stone as a close to perfect project to me.
Thanks so much! Jennifer Taher really brought that character to life.
One of the best acting performances I’ve ever seen in YT horror short films (and I have seen hundreds of short films) excellent work, I appreciate the movie doesn’t end on a jumpscare, 10/10 for this film, EXCELLENT acting, perfect pacing, beautiful cinematography, well done everybody involved 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thanks so much! Jenny really gave it her all and brought the character to life.
Listening to this with headphones was inSANE! there were multiple moments where I had to pause and make sure it's not happening in real life!
From what knowledge I know about this. This was some sort of demon, spirit or entity what have you that clings on to a person's grief or memories of the lost and twists those to its will to trick the ones who are grieving into its trap to feed off of that struggle. If that's the case, very well done.
I can't imagine what its like losing a child that came from within me. Something I bared for several months and grew from a tiny cellular seed and protected it all that time. All to be snuffed away all of a sudden. The emotion gained from that must be just so.. Extremely disruptive for the life you set out for and just completely unfair.
I think that it portrays well in this short film in showing how dangerous, from a realistic point (not evil spirits), life changing scenarios can have on the mental health of women. Enough to make them go nearly insane just like what may have been going on with the mother. Its entirely possible that all the stress put this in her head because it is such a real thing that happens to mothers around the world. Losing their baby.
Its like when little kids go to school and you don't think about what could happen to them. Then one day.. they're just.... GONE. For no reason except that they just happened to be there. It sucks.
So excited to see an alert that Dylan Clark had posted a new video. This was a great short- really felt all of this poor woman’s emotions and loved the subtle sightings of the “monster” who was truly terrifying. Great job!!!! ❤
Thanks so much Diane! Appreciate you sticking around.
Fantastic work.
The creature reveal actually gave me shivers, the tension during the climax while not as horrifying as i would've expected still did the job and and i basically took that "mamma" as an hit damn.
Amazing work on the makeup, for the hand and body, it was my only complains with portrait of god that it was somewhat ruined compared to what was show in the making, but i am happy to see it here.
Edit: actually here's my only complaint the ashes..... the urn seem nore important than the asces themselves, maybe i am missing something but it somehow feel like the priority are switched, like too much on the meaning insteading of thinking about how horrifying it must be for her to have the baby ashes on the hands.
Logistically, wise production desicions. One character, one setting. Brilliant use of sound, lighting, and editing. There's fodder here for a feature-length film, like "Laura Can't Sleep" became "Smile." You will follow in the footsteps of Ari Aster.
It may be lost in the sea of comments on this video, but I cannot even begin to convey how addicted I am to your work. The photography, the tension, everything is so incredibly perfect, without even mentioning things like the scenario and the realization. Being a huge fan of cinema, and of horror more than anything else, I'm not afraid to say you are one of my few absolutely favorite artists. I think you deserve all the praise you receive and so much more, and if you ever released any kind of long feature movie, I would be one of the first to go and see it, without a doubt.
I hope I managed to share how much your work impacts me creatively, and how much I admire it.
I'd be ecstatic to see more of what you create, and I hope you never lose that fantastic spark you seem to have!
I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. We had some very scary close calls with respiratory illness with my son, and though he's now a happy five year old, I remember all of the dark thoughts and fear in those uncertain moments. But I do see this as a story of processing grief.
After some processing, that was difficult to watch but I'm glad that I did. It gave me some hope, oddly enough. The monster was dwelling on the tragedy, and she literally had to pick up the pieces.
I was really nervous about making this because I knew it could cause some people some pain. It's very much meant to be a positive arc for the character. If I was going to tell a story like this, it absolutely had to end on an empowered and positive note. I'm sorry for stirring those memories for you, but I'm glad that the intention rang through upon reflection. Wishing you and your family all the best.
@@dylanclark I chose to watch the video. As soon as it started I knew it could take me to an uncomfortable place, and it was my choice to continue. And I trusted you to treat it sensitively, which you did. Thank you for your work!
@@dylanclark It's important to make these kind of awareness films, because then people who sadly relate, can use this as a tool to show those who don't understand how it really feels. Like me personally, never had kids, and for my own body's safety, don't want em. But this also opened my mind to show more and more compassion to those who have suffered a traumatic loss or gone through a health scare with their own kids. Truly an amazing and heart wrenching film that can help both sides understand this type of subject.
As a father of a 7 month old who recently recovered from RSV, the opening was really painful for me. Regardless, this is absolutely one of, if not the best short films I have ever seen. Good work!
The actor in this is amazing..she portrays emotion so well…it makes me so sad
Jesus Christ that creature actually terrified me😭
10:01 As a german the biggest horror was, that she threw the batteries in the household garbage can
☠️
Looking for this
Loved it! The way she portrayed the complex emotions of a mother struggling with her grief was simply amazing.
That was such a perfect ending, i was expecting something like the hand appair again or something like all the horrors, and was prepared to "bruh i was expecting that", but the fact that it end like that left me shocked! Good job!!!
Damn, genuinely better than most bib budget horror flicks. My compliments to you and the actress, phenomenal film
Damn dude, how are these all SO GOOD? They have firmly established "rules" for the spooky spectres, and it does it all with hardly any dialogue. So great.
This broke my heart..as a mom I cant imagine losing a child. Your grief can make your mind play tricks on you
Grade A filmmaking top to bottom!! Congrats on a festival run & killer short!!
Thanks as always, dude!
Perfeito, simplesmente perfeito. O luto misturado com o terror e o desespero da mãe, criando um suspense foi de tirar o fôlego
Dylan your work is incredible...Please don't ever stop making films!
It is horribly sad, heartbreaking
A beautiful allegory of the monster of grief and being stuck in your own abyss of misery.
I absolutely adore how you do suspense and how not everything is loud and explosive but still manages to give off the same effect--more often even better than others. Another absolutely amazing short film--and an extremely wonderful performance from the actors along with the skin-crawling score. I love this so much.
Thanks so much. Ryan, our composer, and Jenny, the actress in this, really elevated it.
I truly believe that you're one of the greatest minds in horror today. With each and every new short, you're perfecting your style of filmmaking and that style is incredible. Your work is extraordinary, and I would love to see a full-length film by you in the future.
this is BEAUTIFUL! i usually don't say that about films, but this is geuinely one of my new favorite things i've ever seen. i love how its so telling even with only really one actor, and pulls at your heart- while still being scary. amazing work!
Why can’t Hollywood recognize talented people like you Dylan? You sure would kick ass in making feature cinema films.
Holy crap!
This is just heads and shoulders above almost everything else I've seen in terms of short horror films on TH-cam!
The sound design is astounding! Managing to get these sound bites of babies coughing and crying. So much production value!
The acting! Wow, that lady as the protagonist did an AMAZING job! I was crying as she was, experiencing her pain.
The simple and grounded cinematography was just perfect. Goodness me.
The visual effects were amazing! Really elevated the film! I got goosebumps!
The script! I genuinely didn't know what to expect next. Having an original story in a horror short is not easy!
Outstanding.
Whew... I don't even have kids and I empathized so much for the mother. This was a toughie to watch, but very well made.
Very nicely done! I really noticed the cinematography improvements on this one and the overall quality of the production. Awesome work!
Thanks Dillon :)!
I don’t normally get scared when you see the actual creature. Half the time it takes me out. I legit Jumped at the bottom of the stairs. And now paused fighting with myself to finish! Bravo!
im 21 so i havent even experienced much but I did experience grief. It's so amazing how grief is such a universal thing no matter what age you are that I can feel and relate to how the mother felt.
This kind of things hit different as a parent. What I found most terrifying is the kid's death itself, the rest of the horror is kinda diluted after something that hits that hard.
Anyway, as always this is a masterclass of tempo and narrative restraint. Amazing work.
I'm not even a parent and I felt ten times more horror and dread when it turned out her poor baby passed. I may be desensitized to horror media like, demons, ghosts, serial killers, but babies passing away is just unbearable.
Dylan man, what a unique short. Portrait of God has been my favorite horror short for the last year and I’ve been eagerly awaiting your next work. You have this perfect blend between the demonic and the cosmic unknown that I just don’t think any other storytellers are doing in the horror space. When can we expect a feature?
This means a lot. I really appreciate it. I've got a lot of stuff in the works, but it's hard to promise any timeline with a feature until it's really in motion. Hopefully in the near future though...! We'll see.
shoutout to dmottt (danny motta) for bringing up this short. never would've found it let alone know about this channel. crazy creepy. nice one Dylan Clark. will watch more short films!
“Grief makes monsters of us all.”
The red-lining on the baby monitor when it started coughing got to me right away. And the visceral sadness that hit when she dropped the urn on the carpet. God, this is so well done.
Hello, I watched Remains and I can only say "wow". Admirable in all aspects, and what a performance of Jennifer. Congratulations to everyone involved.
I'm always pumped to see a "Dylan Clark" notification because I know I'm about to watch another masterpiece.
My man, me and my friend discovered you with "The Portrait of God", and after that we saw all your videos. You are one of the most talented Director, we just love you and we hope you the best for your career
Thanks to both of you!
wow. truly incredible. have been binge watching short horror films and nothing has truly terrified me until this video. from the story, to the acting, to the performance, it encapsulated the true meaning of a horror film. incredible. props to you!
Why is this the best acting I've seen in at least 10 years?
Jesus! Que criatura é essa?!
Parabéns, uma produção ótima!
A trilha sonora, os momentos de tenção e aquela criatura realmente deram aquele frio na espinha que te faz gritar ou congelar de medo! Meus parabéns mais uma vez! 😊
Eu acho que é um demônio
Jesus I love you save souls
Jesus I love you, save souls
I have not felt such genuine terror in a long while. That moment, when the lights turned on, was masterful.
Melancholy strain surrounds the whole film makes it more scary❤ You did a great job
I'm looking forward to the behind the scenes video more than the actual short film itself for some reason
It's got quite the complicated origin story. Looking forward to sharing it at some point.
Another incredible film by the talented Dylan Clark!!!! 🤩
Too kind! Thanks as always, Victoria.
I have followed your channel since potrait of god and I absolutely love the use of color and lighting you follow throughout in your projects. Eagerly looking forward to other projects.
Thank you!
great job. loved this. when that creature was touching her i kept telling her to "drop the urn" - very creepy and well done.
Dude this is genius, incredible work. Jennifer absolutely crushed it, putting the toy inside the urn for a changing light source like that, the deranged spirit using the tragic despair of a mother losing her infant son against her.... fuckin diabolical man. Awesome. Also made me think of how people can get lost in a tragedy, and it can keep them from living their lives. My favorite so far, can't wait for the next ones.
Yet another incredible short film that made scream AND cry!! Dylan, you amaze me!!!
I am new to these short form horror stories but got damn are they great!! In 4-12 mins you can accomplish what she know can't do in 2 hours!! Really great film
Yes! One of my favorite upcoming horror short directors. Amazing
This is the first time a horror short made me cry in sorrow. Well done.
I anticipate a feature film someday. These are all fabulous works.
Thank you! I hope that comes true. Working to make it happen.
Fourth idk. These shorts are fantastic. Thank you so much for the in depth break downs, it helps a lot when planning out shorts.
So glad to hear that! Will certainly be making one for this short.
Help: I followed the instructions and tried this with my grandfather's ashes, but I couldn't get a demon rave party to occur.
All I can say is I was not expecting ANY of this! Thanks for your creative and original take on a mother's loss.
Thank YOU for watching!
Saw this at the thesis screening and I couldn’t wait to see it again. Great work!
Thanks Matt!
All I can think after watching this film is... We belong to the earth and we should end there... As dust. Otherwise entities will always be lurking around our unburied souls.
Great great Film!!!
A masterclass in "show, don't tell" and as heartbreaking as it is terrifying
Simply excellent, and heartbreaking too. The actress deserves all the kudos for her performance.
Great work! It's nice to see a short horror film that has a bit of meaning to it rather than it just being a scarefest.
Bro like fucking literally you got me goosebumps bro this short film was way better then regular length ones. The concept of horror that you keep in the videos is really terrifying and well presented. Keep this shit up
Glad to see you go with the longer ending, it really worked. Super impressive !
Thanks so much! Appreciate your feedback on this one!
That. Was. So. GOOD! I've seen tons of these horror shorts, and while people seem to find many of them terrifying, I find them somewhat lackluster. This was refreshing!
As a fan of horror, movies, and shorts, i can say that this short was classy, the mother going throw the lost of her baby, having the grief of the vulnerabbility that the tragic situation brings, along side with that, the love of a mother wich seems to have some kind of psychosis, but at the same time , it might be that, the soul of her baby is warning her from the monster that is tormenting her. The movie physically is pretty simple, not much happening, but mentally that so many cenarios, and by tthe way, it is pretty scary, its been a long time, since i felt scared from a horror movie, the goosebumps said so, specifically in the part where she looks down on stairs, that part was one of the best scary parts i have ever seen. Very good job indeed! Im sharing with family this short. This short needs public. 😄
Wow wow wow, this was incredible! The script, the acting, the cinematography...amazing!
Thank you so much!
So excited. Literally found out about you yesterday and watched all your films. And now this!!
Amazing👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Jenny Taher is extremely talented!!!
Her performance was phenomenal ❤️
Jenny is awesome!
Dark. Creepy. Engaging.
I absolutely love your work. I feel like this and Portrait of God is connected which is the most interesting part about your films. Great job!
The beginning of the story almost brought me, a fully grown man, into tears. I just can't watch at mother's grief of loss it's so heartbreaking. I can't even imagine how excruciating the pain of loss of your own child can be. Especially if a little baby dies, it's so hard for me to watch
Bravo. It's extremely sad and extremely eerie. And everything worked well everything was in its places nothing unnecessary. Pure evil, madness, grief and sadness. You are so talented I'll keep on repeating this!
Very kind of you. Really appreciate it!
This will not resonate with as many people as some of your other horror shorts. But as a dad, even the beginning with the child heavily coughing is absolute dread to any parent who had to go through the ordeal of a very ill kid. It's something I could never really empathize with until I went through it. Horror can have many forms, thank you for this story!
I just watched a Jacob Owens- competition short film, then suddenly being recommended with this. Great to see you making another film
the score, the cinematography, the STORY! you're amazing brother
Thanks as always man 🤟
This is the best depiction of grief and lose. And guys if you liked the short film - I'd recommend you to watch "Before I Wake" pretty same synopsis.
You're the only friend who I'll sit though horror for. Well done as always, I was cuddling a pillow for safety the entire time.
Hahaha, thanks Abel :,)
I have just re-watched all your movies once again and you just present us a new one 😍
It's incredible, usually you can't find a good horror movie nowadays, but I type this comment just because I'm too scared to continue watching it 😅