Mikes Film Talk

Henry (2022) is a curious and disturbing tale of being lost and not found. This short film, just over 16 minutes, takes us down a rabbit hole. Set initially in Las Vegas, which is to many a sort of wonderland, Henry; not Alice, takes the hard fall.

The story

Henry is engaged and in Las Vegas. Things seem to go awry however and suddenly the young man is single. The film follows Henry from one disaster to another. He ends up in the desert. His cell phone has no signal so he cannot navigate his way to safety. He cannot call for help either.

Interesting note

Matthew Kyle Levine directs and edits this tragedy. IMDb states he also co-wrote the film with Wilbert Awdry. *For those in the know, Awdry was a writer for Thomas the Tank. “Toot, toot” as Tangerine would say in Bullet Train. He died in 1997. The credit is given as “Reverend Awdry” wrote the original story. Kudos to Levine for putting this in the “credits.”*

The Cast

Alex Scarlatos plays Henry. He could well be the world’s champion at being clueless. This trait will cost the character dearly. Scarlatos has worked with Levine before in Miss Freelance (2019). That was behind the camera but this time around he shows some pretty impressive acting chops.

Tate Kenney is Henry’s intended bride. We hear her but never see her. *The closest we get is that scene with Health magazine’s cover of Busy Phillips. There is some resemblance.*

Timothy J Cox is Henry’s father. He too is only heard, via a telephone conversation. Cox brings his usual sense of gravitas to the proceedings. He manages to sound just this side of uninterested at first. Later, he actually becomes concerned.

Shea Glasheen does double duty as the larceny prone receptionist for the escort service and his grandmother later on. Glasheen has also worked with Levine before.

What works

It would be all too easy to dismiss Henry as a lad whose naivety gets him in more and more trouble. However, there are moments in the film where we realize that the lad simply cannot communicate.

More importantly, we get the feeling that Henry may have imagined his engagement, his fiancee and his life in general. The fatigue in his father’s voice in that first phone call seems to indicate that he has grown tired of his son’s “world.”

Levine has deftly put together a patchwork scenario that works on so many levels. For instance: In the desert, Henry hears applause. This soon turns into the sounds of heavy, driving rain. He even lifts his head up, mouth open, to catch the lifesaving stuff.

It is, of course, not there.

Levine has managed to put in a bit of duality here. The desert holds more than it should. One scene is shiveringly disturbing. *I have a keen appreciation of films that hint at dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia. Both are truly terrifying.*

The Verdict

The sound was uneven but this did not alter the fact that Henry is a good film. I give it a shaky 4. Shaky only because of the sound issue and that the story did, at moments, seem unclear. It does really feel like a “rabbit hole” film. Watch it, if you can, and see what you get from this interesting tale.