Summary
Heart Shot is a teaser shot of adrenaline.
This review of the Netflix short film Heart Shot contains spoilers.
Netflix’s Heart Shot is a short film co-written and directed by Marielle Woods (Cobra Kai) and co-writer Lauren Ludwig (Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy). Their short film suddenly becomes a quick teaser shot of adrenaline. Since Woods has a resume of modern action classics such as John Wick: Chapter 2, Baby Driver, and the HBO television series Westworld, that’s no surprise.
The story starts as a teen LGBTQ+ love story. You have Sam (Nia Sunday), a young African-American woman about to go off to college in a few months. Her mom is worried about being alone as she takes Sam’s younger sisters to meetings. Also, she will have her girlfriend Nikkie (Elena Heuzé) over. Sam tells her mom that Nikki still has not come out to her parents yet, so they cannot hang out at Nikki’s home.
Of course, it’s a part of growing up. Nikki rides her bike, grabs some lunch, and kills time before Sam’s family leaves reading a book. She invites her girlfriend over. When they meet, Wood’s camera captures a sweet nervous energy moment where Sam and Nikki can’t help but smile and look at each other. Their romantic setup is a breath of fresh air.
What Heart Shot also does so well is seamlessly connecting a backstory to an immediate transition into the film’s reveal in a short time. As soon as Nikki spends the night with Sam, after revealing her toxic upbringing by an abusive mother, the story shifts into a John Wick-style revelation. Nikki tries to leave but is cornered by five or six assassins armed with silencers. All of them look like they stepped out of a JCrew catalog.
Heuzé is very effective in creating a three-dimensional character and is very effective in action scenes. It’s a quick rush of excitement that wasn’t expected. While the film is entertaining, the subplot involving the villains is the connection to Nikki comes across as overdone.
Heart Shot is an unexpected diversion that creates a rare excitement for the short film action genre. The overall experience does lean towards marketing experience, one for studios to make a feature-length modern societal Hanna, which takes away from its value.
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