Short Film Review: "#Bossbabe" (2023)
#Bossbabe Short Film Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released at Fantasia Film Festival
Written and Directed by Kassy Gascho
2023, 12 minutes, Not Rated
Released on August 8th, 2023
Starring:
Katelyn Doyle as Sofi
Pooja Bhandari as Bobbi
Daisy Lankstead as Lexi
Selena Goosney as Dani
Heather Ngo as Purple Bevlon Rep
Alexandra Bell as Red Bevlon Rep
Review:
For the creep factor, it’s hard to beat a good, old-fashioned cult. All that mindless devotion and hero worship of those existing further up the food chain than you? Shit, man….it’s some heady stuff. Do you know what’s even creepier than a cult? A pyramid marketing scheme. Those things are cults on steroids, fueled by greed and anchored by false promises. Yes, I’m talking to you Avon and Amway weirdos. Deal with it.
#Bossbabe is a twelve-minute neon nightmare of just this sort. Sofi (Katelyn Doyle; Sisterhood) is desperate as hell to move up in Bevlon, a #girlboss pyramid scheme (think youthful, Barbie-tinged Avon and you’re on the right track). She throws a poorly attended recruitment party that’s essentially hijacked by Lexi (Daisy Lankstead), a “gold level” Bevlon girl who is Queen Shit of Turd Mountain. Jealousy soon gives way to tragedy of a sort, and there’s now a very stylish corpse to deal with. This raises a serious question for the pyramid scheme set. What’s more important- your friendship or your downline?
I’m a sucker for good satire, and #Bosssbabe reminded me of an Amway meeting I went to just after high school at the request of my (thankfully temporarily) brainwashed older brother if said meeting were on a very Day-Glo acid trip. There’s much being said about influencer culture, pyramid schemes, and cults at large. That’s a lot to tackle head-on, but Kassy Gascho’s vicious short film does so with aplomb. The horror is less of the visceral variety and more of the “damn, this is disturbing” variety. Truth and honesty have a lot to do with that- these people really do exist!
The performances are note-perfect and keep the satire humming in brightly colored glory. Katelyn Doyle’s character exudes vapid greed and fame whorishness. The pacing keeps it fun and horribly light in the face of the real horror. There’s not much flare to the cinematography, but it’s certainly competent enough. Therein lies my main issue with #Bossbabe"- there’s more than just a short film there with some fleshed out writing and character development. I hope to see it go further somewhere down the road; the Heathers influence is pretty hard to miss and made me grin freely.
#Bossbabe is a strong short film with plenty to say about what has become a social norm in the day and age of social influencers who have millions of followers and have done nothing to earn them. It’s biting satire that promises so much more than it delivers, and it delivers pretty damn hard as it is. Take twelve minutes to marvel at the garish insanity. You’re probably going to want some of those silly sunglasses to boot!
Grade:
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
