{"id":9764,"date":"2025-09-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=9764"},"modified":"2025-09-02T08:16:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:16:47","slug":"a-chaotic-story-with-unexpected-tenderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/a-chaotic-story-with-unexpected-tenderness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chaotic Story With Unexpected Tenderness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 36 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEW
\nAs i Believe the World to Be<\/strong>
\n\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Thriller, Drama, Short
\nYear Released:<\/strong> 2023
\nRuntime: <\/strong>12m
\nDirector(s): <\/strong>Spooky Madison
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Spooky Madison
\nCast: <\/strong>Julie Carney, Timothy J. Cox, Anthony Dain, Veronica Halko, Dylan Hughes, Ashlee Lawhorn
\nWhere to Watch: <\/strong>available to watch now, here: www.youtube.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Short films thrive when they condense ambitious ideas into concise storytelling, and AS i BELIEVE THE WORLD TO BE does just that. Written and directed by Spooky Madison, the project was born from creative constraint: competitors were given a theme and a prop and had only a month to turn the concept into a finished film. The result is a thriller that blurs the line between reality and imagination, a compact story in which a writer tests the limits of chaos one mind can conjure before the world pushes back.<\/p>\n

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The film follows a neurodivergent protagonist who begins writing a story about a hired henchman whose assignment goes off track. But as she writes, imagination and reality overlap. Soon, the story isn\u2019t confined to her pages\u2014it consumes her world, pulling her into questions about whether she controls the narrative or if the narrative controls her. This layering of writer, character, and audience gives the short its intrigue. Instead of being a straightforward hit-gone-wrong tale, the film asks whether love, chaos, and control are ever truly separable.<\/p>\n

Bailey Kathryn leads the cast with a performance that anchors the film\u2019s surreal premise in humanity. Playing a character driven by both yearning and disorder, she strikes a balance between vulnerability and volatility. Her neurodivergence is portrayed not as a quirk, but as a core aspect of the character\u2019s struggle with control, connection, and desire. Timothy J. Cox and Anthony Dain round out the ensemble, their work lending the project a sense of tension that complements Kathryn\u2019s unpredictable energy.<\/p>\n

The film effectively utilizes its budget. Shot in Columbus, Ohio, the locations give it a lived-in quality that makes the reality\/fiction blur all the more disorienting. There\u2019s an intimate, almost theatrical quality to the staging, as if we\u2019re watching a play that refuses to stay on its stage.<\/p>\n

Madison\u2019s writing is the heart of the piece. The dialogue carries a certain meta-awareness, reminding us that we\u2019re watching a story within a story. At times, that framing device feels less essential than the character study at its core. The henchman subplot, while a useful catalyst, occasionally fades into the background once the focus shifts more squarely onto the writer\u2019s own unraveling. But the thematic reverberation remains: stories can be both lifelines and traps, and the act of creation can expose a person\u2019s deepest contradictions.<\/p>\n

What works best is the film\u2019s refusal to provide an easy resolution. The protagonist is given a chance to fall in love, but Madison poses the question: Is this connection stabilizing, or does it risk triggering even more destruction? That uncertainty makes the film stay with you. For some viewers, the ambiguity may feel like an unfinished thought, but others will appreciate its refusal to spell things out.<\/p>\n

AS i BELIEVE THE WORLD TO BE also speaks to creativity under constraints. With only a month of preparation, the film successfully builds an atmospheric world and weaves in thoughtful themes. This is no small feat, considering how many short films falter by failing to reach their full potential. Madison\u2019s touch suggests an instinct for how to use limited resources effectively while still aiming for layered storytelling.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a critique, it\u2019s that the audio and technical don\u2019t always match the strength of the writing and performances. But those rough edges don\u2019t erase the core appeal\u2014the film resonates because its characters feel authentic and its story sharpens into a psychological exploration rather than just a twist-driven short. It\u2019s a film that, while not perfect, holds its own with passion and precision.<\/p>\n

AS i BELIEVE THE WORLD TO BE, lands in that middle zone of strong concept, solid execution, and room for refinement, it represents the kind of short that is more promising than perfect\u2014one that demonstrates Spooky Madison\u2019s ambition and leaves you curious about what they could do with a larger canvas and more in-depth resources. It\u2019s imperfect, yes, but in ways that make it all the more interesting. Enjoy the ride and experience it!<\/p>\n

Please visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/overlyhonestr for more reviews.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m always happy to hear from my readers; please don’t hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.<\/p>\n

[photo courtesy of FINALGHOUL FILMS, STUDIOBSCURA]<\/em><\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/strong>
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MOVIE REVIEW As i Believe the World to Be \u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Genre: Thriller, Drama, Short Year Released: 2023 Runtime: 12m Director(s): Spooky Madison Writer(s): Spooky Madison Cast: Julie Carney, Timothy J. Cox, Anthony Dain, Veronica Halko, Dylan Hughes, Ashlee Lawhorn Where to Watch: available to watch now, here: www.youtube.com RAVING REVIEW:\u00a0Short films thrive when they condense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9784,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764\/revisions\/9784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}