The Score Was Never the Point

Read Time:7 Minute, 27 Second

MOVIE REVIEWS
On Guard
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Genre: Sports Drama, Short
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 14m
Director: Will Calkins
Writer: Will Calkins
Cast: Makenzie Pridgen, Sean Mikesh
Where to Watch: shown at the 2026 RiverRun International Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: The most interesting thing about ON GUARD is that there’s an imbalance to the duel before anyone raises their saber. No, this isn’t a STAR WARS short. Taylor thinks he’s there to fence, while Jaime seems to believe she’s there to settle something much more important, and that gives the short an exploration of tension to focus on. One person sees competition as something that ends when the score is settled, while the other has tied so much of herself to winning that the distinction between sport and self-worth has nearly disappeared.

Writer/director Will Calkins doesn’t need much setup before that difference becomes clear. Jaime (Makenzie Pridgen) challenges Taylor (Sean Mikesh), her biggest competition, to an after-hours match, and his relatively relaxed attitude immediately clashes with her intensity. There’s almost something unsettling about watching two people participate in the same activity for completely different reasons, particularly when one of them doesn’t understand how much the encounter means to the other.

Pridgen has the more demanding role because Jaime could easily become an exaggerated caricature. Her frustration needs to feel legit without turning every moment into some overblown moment that tells the audience something is wrong, and the performance is strongest when that anger feels like something she’s actively trying to contain. There’s a rigidity to Jaime that fits someone who has become so focused on achievement that even an activity she presumably once enjoyed now feels like another opportunity to judge herself.

Mikesh provides an important contrast without trying to match that intensity. Taylor is more comfortable with himself and with the idea that competition doesn’t have to define everything outside the match, which makes his interactions with Jaime increasingly uncomfortable as he realizes they aren’t approaching the evening from the same place. The difference between them also keeps ON GUARD from slipping into a journey of pure escalation and anger, giving the scene room to establish what a healthier relationship with competition might look like without spelling it out.

Calkins’ experience as a competitive saber fencer is probably the biggest advantage ON GUARD has. The sport doesn’t feel like it was chosen simply because swords make for visually interesting action, and the fencing itself carries so much more information about the characters. Their movements, reactions, and approach to the match become part of the conversation, letting the physical competition do some of the work that would otherwise require additional dialogue.

Calkins also chose to have Pridgen and Mikesh fence themselves rather than hide the action behind doubles. Neither actor came into the production as a trained fencer, so the preparation became part of making the performances convincing. Calkins worked with them for months before filming, teaching them the fundamentals while also planning the specific exchanges that would appear on screen. The team storyboarded every beat of the fencing sequences well in advance, giving the actors time to practice the exact touches and movements required for the finished scenes. That preparation pays off because the matches rarely feel like two performers cautiously moving through choreography they only recently learned. I already know that so much time, effort, and genuine affection go into creating short films, but this makes me realize it's on a different level.

There’s also some really interesting visual thinking behind how Jaime’s state of mind is handled. Calkins keeps the camera removed from her for parts of the story, using longer lenses and more stable compositions before gradually moving closer as the tension increases. Once the control Jaime tries to maintain begins slipping, the camera becomes less restrained as well. It’s a relatively simple technique, but it fits the character because the filmmaking changes alongside her rather than showing every emotional shift through dialogue. The subdued lighting of the fencing location adds to that discomfort, giving what should be a familiar athletic space a much less welcoming quality once the duel becomes personal.

Authenticity matters because fencing doesn’t get much screen time. It has an inherently dramatic appearance, but ON GUARD is less interested in turning the duel into spectacle than in using the precision of the sport against Jaime’s increasingly unstable emotions. Fencing requires control, timing, and discipline, making it an especially effective setting for a character struggling to maintain those same qualities away from the match's technical demands.

The filmmaker also understands when to keep some distance from Jaime and when to tighten in around her. Rather than immediately forcing the audience into her emotional state, the short gradually makes the encounter feel less comfortable as the stakes she has created for herself become clearer. That restraint keeps tension from feeling overwhelming, which matters when there’s so little time to establish the characters and move the story forward.

There’s no wasted subplot or unnecessary detour. Jaime is complicated enough that the film occasionally feels like it has reached the edge of something it doesn’t have time to examine. A little more history between Jaime and Taylor could have given their relationship additional impact, particularly when Taylor begins to understand how differently Jaime views him and their rivalry.

Taylor consequently works better as a counterbalance to Jaime than as a fully developed character. That serves the immediate story, yet it leaves some interesting territory untouched because his history with competition and his understanding of Jaime could have added another dimension to their interaction. The short provides enough to show why he matters to her, but not enough to make the relationship feel equally defined from both sides.

What keeps ON GUARD so interesting is that Jaime’s problem isn’t really Taylor. Beating one opponent can’t fix the larger issue when success becomes the only measure she’s willing to use for herself, and the film recognizes the cycle it creates. Winning offers temporary validation; losing becomes personal failure, and neither outcome addresses why the result carries so much weight in the first place.

That reaches beyond fencing without requiring the movie to abandon the specificity that makes it work. Athletes may recognize the pressure, but the same mentality can exist anywhere people begin measuring their value entirely through accomplishments. ON GUARD doesn’t pretend to solve that problem within a few minutes, and its refusal to package Jaime’s struggle as just an answer is preferable to pretending one conversation or one match could straighten everything out.

ON GUARD carries a noticeable confidence, especially in how it turns a very specific sport into an effective character study. It could stand to give its two characters a little more room before the credits arrive, but what’s here feels deliberate rather than unfinished. Calkins knows the environment, Pridgen gives the emotional instability enough restraint to keep Jaime believable, and the fencing becomes part of the storytelling instead of simply providing an excuse for two people to swing sabers at each other.

ON GUARD makes good use of a simple situation by understanding that the real danger isn’t necessarily found at the point of a blade. Jaime has turned competition into something it was never meant to be, and watching that collide with Taylor’s healthier perspective gives the short its most focused moments. At 14 minutes, it leaves me wanting slightly more from these characters, but it also knows exactly which part of their relationship is worth putting under pressure.

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