[Fantasia 2025] FILM REVIEW: Headcase

Headcase - Fantasia World Premiere Review

Director: Specncer Zimmerman

Starring: Siobhan Connors, Pat Moonie, Gigi Saul Guerrero

Written by: Pat Moonie, Spencer Zimmereman

Produced by: Siobhan Connors, Jessica To, Vanessa Wakely

Cinematography by: Gareth Jones

Original Score by: Ethan Lawrence

Synopsis:

An influencer has a car accident while shooting a video and ends up falling in love.

Thoughts:

The first thing I thought about 'Headcase' after watching it was that it would probably work really well as a dark, oddball comedy feature film. Something in the same vein as 'Fargo' by the Coen Brothers or 'Happiness' by Todd Solondz. Because the short film has that same dark, almost sinister humour but just isn't long enough to get the best out of its characters.

Siobhan Connors plays Kylie Baker, a wannabe social media influencer who is currently tapping into the "mental health" community online and sharing "her journey" to all her fans. In reality she's attempting to bleed them dry like most influencers. This is just a job and a way of making easy money. But she's hit a snag. When we first meet her she's recording another video explaining that her GoFundMe hasn't made anywhere near the goal and she's asking her fans to keep supporting her. And then it happens. She hits someone with her car.

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Kylie spirals out of control and her life instantly begins to crumble. She doesn't go to the police but instead chooses to record a video in the aftermath of the accident which leads to some very strange, very surreal happenings. I don't want to give away any spoilers here but I really don't think you'd be able to guess what happens next.

Although the film is only 16 minutes long, it manages to pack in a fair amount of commentary in there about the perception of social media and loneliness. However there is so much more room to explore these ideas. Kylie Baxter's real name is actually Karen and her life, as predicted, isn't anything like the portrayal on her social media channel. She's a deeply unhappy person who chooses to force herself to create content because she, as does much of society today, believes that social media is the only answer.

Siobhan Connors is fantastic in her role and Pat Moonie who plays the victim is hilarious. The writing is a bit on the nose but that's the point. I loved the look of the film too. It has a gritty aethetic that also reflects the tone and Spencer Zimmerman is clearly a very talented dude. Having worked in the camera department on the last few Osgood Perkins pictures he has now stepped up and I'm sure he'll use everything he has learned on the sets of 'Longlegs' and 'The Monkey' to make the feature version the best it can be.

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Thankfully 'Headcase' has been picked up by Viral Nation and is currently being developed into a feature film. I'm gonna keep my eye out for this one because there is a lot of potential there to make this a really dark and disturbing comedy film that will also work well as a social commentary on the social media generation.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Gavin Logan

'Headcase' recevied it World Premiere at Fantasia '25 on July 26th