Reviewer: Michelle Thomas

An extremely clever short using scenes from 56 classic film noir thrillers to tell the story of a noir shadow that develops consciousness, kills its ‘Wearer’ and spends the rest of its existence evading justice. The oppressive Wearers live in fear of a shadow uprising after this personal rebellion and respond by manufacturing mindless duplicates, reducing shadows to little more than consumer goods: endlessly cheap and replaceable. The moment a Wearer suspects a shadow of subversive thoughts, or simply gets tired of it, they order a new one.

The end credits read like a Who’s Who of great directors of the last hundred years and the scenes from their films are beautifully and seamlessly integrated, with a nice sense of atmosphere conjured up by the moody French voiceover. The source material features some of the finest examples of the filmmaker’s art and the high-key, B/W cinematography is crisp and gorgeous. The film also raises important questions about identity and personal freedom in our modern, disposable society.