Truly a masterclass in satirical comedy and a commentary on society's need to be entertained over being properly informed on world issues. Incredible. Julian Barrat as Miles and Martin Freeman as James play their roles exceptionally well, James the well-meaning writer of the play "The Curse of the Compassionate Stranger" has his vision twisted and distorted until it is miles away from what it was intended to be. The message is clear, that studios think they know what an audience wants and copy prior successes in an attempt to appeal to said audience, never challenging them. Watching the play be twisted and warped by Miles due to his corporate mindset is as tragic as it is hillarious - leading to a memorable short that I find myself revisiting frequently.
2 Reviews
All in all not interesting
Horst_In_Translation29 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
"HIV: The Musical" is a 10-minute short film from 6 years ago and the only reason it is somewhat known is because of the participation of actor Martin Freeman. The 2 filmmakers Joseph Patrick and Tim Woodall are fairly unknown and the co-lead is a comedian who is not that popular either. I really wonder what the duo had in mind when they did this. Make a comedy? Raise awareness? Become more famous because of working with Freeman? Then again, this was pre-Sherlock and before "The Hobbit", so Freeman wasn't really known back then. I once liked him as an actor, but after seeing some of his works, I must say he is basically always the same in everything that he is in and this shtick has grown a bit old. This film here makes no difference. I did not find it funny and it's basically an overlong joke trying to shock us with a satiric look at a stage musical around the controversial topic of HIV. Not recommended.
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