Todd (LeJon, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) arrives for what he thinks is a job interview only to discover an empty building… and while you may be thinking this is some sort of murder set-up (as it often is in the entertainment yours cruelly views ‘round these preternatural parts) instead he becomes engaged in a jaw sesh with an A.I. being known as Athena (Dawna Lee Heising, Garden Party Massacre as well as many, many more).
This conversation goes south quicker than shit… well, for two reasons really; the first of which is this is a short film, and the second one being that Athena sure seems to know a veritable shit-ton of deets about our hero, which really begins to piss him off.
Coming from director Craig Railsback (Down and Out in Vampire Hills… which also featured LeJon and Heising), who additionally co-wrote the feature along with Heather Joseph-Witham (who wrote the aforementioned Down and Out in Vampire Hills if you’re keeping track at home) is a lil’ slice of sci-fi social commentary in the Age of A.I.
As our protagonist relives that good ol’ past trauma, we get a strange blend of tech and mysticism involving the artificial being that is Athena offering Tarot readings in an interesting dichotomy perhaps representational of the nearly unbelievable advances in technology and our interactions with the same, are our time’s version of supernatural intervention… which is only accented by the quick blasts of shattered flashback sequences that add to the fever dream vibe the short oft-times displays… and you thought this review was going to be all weird syntax and swearing, didn’t you?
A bite-sized nugget of transcendental (barely) futurism, The Job provides plenty to think about wrapped in a metaphysical sci-fi narrative.
