When The Interview Goes Wrong: Stella Velon’s The Critic
A memorable directorial debut from writer and star Stella Velon, The Critic is an intriguing, thought-provoking and, ultimately, powerful psychological drama which spins a twisting tale from a familiar format — the celebrity interview. Masterfully subverting our expectations throughout, Velon unpicks the insecurities, paradoxes and façade behind the movie star image in a gripping 14 minutes of simmering tension.
Velon plays an unnamed actress who sits down to interview with an anonymous critic. What begins as a conventional question and answer session soon spirals in an unexpected direction as the interviewer homes in on the context around her recent award-winning performance and her troubled personal life.
Sharing the screen almost solely with co-star Alan Symth, Velon adeptly conveys an unsettling dissection of the inevitable conflicts behind star power as she convincingly shifts from cool assurance to increasing vulnerability whilst her initially disarming guest swiftly turns on the heat. As her malevolent interrogator, Symth, in an essentially vocal performance, is equally effective; his abrasive, brash delivery and progressively crabby tone a pellucid contrast to Velon, whose grace and humility becomes sabotaged through a series of penetrating questions that threaten to crack her fragile veneer.
Complementing the pitch-perfect performances, Velon further underlines the duality of the two characters with clever camerawork. Velon’s actress is shown traditionally; off-camera with a series of medium, close-up and profile shots. In stark contrast, Symth is framed unconventionally in silhouette, mostly in profile with the camera moving into extreme close-up as he spouts taunting sniggers to his impuissant subject. Ingeniously, Velon has briskly lured both us and the actress into familiar territory only to abruptly pull the rug from under our feet; this is not simply an awkward interview, it’s a cold, calculated and cruel exposé.
Throughout, Symth is left shrouded in darkness, never fully revealed to the audience. As the questions turn overtly hostile and Velon begins to falter, it becomes clear that this is more than a televisual battle of wits; Velon is confronting her own inner critic, that’s been slowly corroding her confidence despite her new-found screen success. When the film starts, we hear the sound of applause, an ecstatic giggle and then Velon’s acceptance speech, whilst the camera fades in to show her staring blankly into a mirror. “Are you sure it’s for me?”, she begins, acknowledging her “incredibly talented” audience whilst, on camera, she is lifeless, devoid of expression, until the arrival of the interviewer, when her darkest doubts become inescapably manifest. Through the skill of her performance and ingenuity of the filmmaking, Velon brings us to an uncomfortable arena that’s all too easy to forget — the inevitable pressures, self-doubts and scathing criticism that comes with fame, with one’s own inner critic often the darkest of all.
Budding film makers need look no further than The Critic for a first-rate example of short screen storytelling. Deftly capitalizing on a simple premise, with a tension-crackling script that is always surprising, topped with a compelling central performance, The Critic showcases a major talent in the world of short film.
