The Devil s Harmony (2019) dir. Dylan Holmes Williams

This clever and playful take on the high school revenge trope is qualified for this years Academy Awards after receiving numerous prizes including a Jury award at last years Sundance and the Directing prize at Fantastic Fest. The second short film by British director and editor Dylan Holmes Williams, The Devils Harmony announces a new talent in genre cinema. Through eerie and composed visuals, the short follows a bullied teen and a capella singer as she leads her troupe on a melodic rampage through suburbia. Williams set out to make a riff on the classic 80s, 90s American high school films, cowriting the script with Englands NFTS alumni Jess OKane. He wanted to play with the genre while giving it something a bit blacker and bleaker. Inspired by Gus Van Sants Elephant and Rian Johnsons Brick, Williams looked for places that could fit a fluorescentlit, otherworldly aesthetic, similar to these films.