Written and directed by Jill V. Dae, a bigoted man finds himself in an unlikely body on Día de los Muertos. Starring: Maeve Garay, Lochlyn Munro, Daved Olivencia, Erik Rolando Rozet, Ada Luz Pla, Justin Donte and Vivian Kerr.
The style and tone which Jill V. Dae creates with DEI is quite a strange blend, it’s rooted and satire and parody, using the perspective of bigoted people against themselves. What that means is it has a very overt sense of humour, it’s intentionally heavy-handed and in your face, which all perfectly makes sense for what Dae is trying to say with this short, but while it does make sense, it doesn’t make for the most satisfying viewing.
Added to the body swap element, it has a 90s feel to it, which does have some charm but much like that era, it prefers to hit its notes square in the middle. It’s on the nose, and never really strays away from that. It’s hitting a lot of stereotypes, but Dae does employ some variety to the style, using a video game-esque touch to tap into the ideas of propaganda, the American mind-set and the influence of fast food and fast journalism.
With the only exception to that consistent tone being the ending which takes a fairly wild swing. Not one that particularly pays off and may leave some of its viewers unclear of its intentions and meaning, when it comes fairly far out of left field. It’s a shame not to see DEI go out with a bang, and take a bigger swipe at right-wing America, rather than just shifting the perspective to something more metaphorical. Especially as Maeve Garay gives a great performance, she’s easy to watch and delivers that shifting persona really well. She’s even better alongside Daved Olivencia who brings a surprisingly sweet note and delivers some of the strongest comedy, his delivery is excellent.
DEI has fantastic intentions and you can see the thought process of turning that prejudiced perspective on its head, like using someone’s own words to show them how wrong they are. The direction is solid, the cinematography (by Maria Quintana a.k.a. NiñaPapalote) has a slight sitcom feel, blending bright colours into an everyday setting, which works well with the overall tone. It simply doesn’t land as strongly as it wants to, it works and it’s entertaining, but it lacks bite as it’s hitting all of its notes so decidedly on the nose.
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