From Veto Productions comes their first film, the 10-minute 2-location piece that traverses the growth of boyhood to adulthood and the fulfilled childish dreams that aren’t quite what they seem in the reality of growing up.
I’m Your Fairy Fu*king Godmother toys with the idea of ambition, aspiration, and achieving that vision you have as a child for your future self, seldom satisfied as the reality of adulthood is experienced. These ideas are playfully haggled between just two characters; the film’s own writer Tallulah Bond as Hebe, the personal fairy godmother to Pascal, the young schoolboy with dreams to become a princess (something his classmates aren’t too accepting about). Pascal’s younger self (Daniel Narouei) is guided by the suit-wearing sushi-eating fairy godmother into a negotiation about his future career goal that concludes with the signing of a contract. As an adult, Pascal (Shubham Saraf) isn’t too happy with the outcome of their deal – but that’s just what happens when you don’t read the fine print of a two-inch thick contract before signing.
The amusing juxtaposition of childhood and adulthood is achieved through the business-like conversing between Pascal and Hebe, with Pascal’s discussion of his dreams to become a princess to a fairy godmother that looks like she’s come straight from her 9-5 job at the office. The merging of the two polar opposites is a source of comedy, but not a detraction from the more heart-felt moments, particularly in the scene of Pascal’s adulthood. The dim lighting of the dressing room conveys the slightly darker tone of the film’s second-half, echoing the dissatisfaction of adulthood compared to what you dream of as a child. This change against the film’s first-half, shot outside on a scenic street bench in which the young boy and fairy godmother discuss the contract, proves the conscientious decisions behind the lighting choices to highlight the character’s changes in just a short 10-minute 2-location space.
The title itself acts as an explanation for the characters, easily guiding the audience to an immediate understanding of the conversation that we’re dipped into the middle of at the start of the film. Had the title not indicated who Hebe was to Pascal, his final words shouted by actor Saraf – ‘You’re my fairy fucking godmother!’ – to the leaving Hebe could’ve had slightly more of an impact as a conclusive realisation in the audience to what they’ve just watched; as a viewer, it’s sometimes nicer to collect your own thoughts of the film you’re watching without it handed to you. However, the overall clarity of the narrative needed the explanative title as I found the final interactions between Hebe and the adult Pascal not as clear as it could’ve been, but perhaps the ambiguity of the scene was intended.
The actors achieved just as much as the directing, especially Bond as the fairy godmother, a character I’d be interested in seeing more of as the performance was spot on in both interactions with the younger and older Pascal. She kept the same disciplined professionalism no matter the age of the individual but still allowed humanity in through cracks to show a tenderness towards her ‘client’. This short film was engaging and interesting, utilising small spaces well with high and low camera angles to portray a funny – yet quite solemn – universally understood defeatism that comes with growing up. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for Veto Productions’ second film.
Watch I’m Your Fairy Fu*king Godmother now on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uxpH5uA3bQ&ab_channel=VetoProductions
Veto Productions: https://vetoproductions.org/im-your-fairy-fuking-godmother
one small screen 