“The Chair” The Xavierite
* Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you want to avoid spoilers/how the short film ends.
The horror genre has a wide variety of experiences an audience can choose from. People can find anything from paranormal phenomena to found footage terror; the creative stories never cease to scare viewers. Short films can get lost in the mix, despite their power to be equally as horrific as their counterparts.
“The Chair” is a 2023 short horror film written and directed by Curry Barker. It follows Reese (Anthony Pavone) after he cannot resist bringing a chair from the side of the road home. The piece of furniture brings torment to his life, and Reese slowly starts to lose his mind. Running for about 23 minutes, this short film is nothing to underestimate.
I first found “The Chair” on YouTube, where watching it is free. Short films are usually not my thing, but I heard of it from a recommendation on social media and had some free time.
Right away, the film opens with the view of the chair that will change the main character’s life. A car drives by to show a shift in the scene, immediately setting the tone. With this shift, a man is seen standing behind the chair and near the house that’s presumably giving up the furniture. The man’s stance and face pointing towards the camera is unsettling; it also demonstrates him warning whoever takes the chair next.
The same car that passed reverses and after some deliberation, we have our first encounter with Reese, who decides to take the furniture to surprise his girlfriend for their anniversary.
The chair is placed in the center of the frame, sitting in a random, out-of-place part of the room they are in. Reese’s girlfriend shares her dislike for the piece and how she wants it gone. She goes as far as to beg for Reese to understand her and agree to get rid of it.
However, the audience soon is met with Reese sitting on the chair in the place he picked it up. This captured my attention right away; I wanted to know what had happened and what would follow Reese’s interaction with this haunting item.
A bigger twist follows with Reese’s return home and his girlfriend being the one to bring the chair. She claims it has grown on her since he dropped it off. However, Reese does not ever remember dropping it off and he certainly does not remember an entire week going by.
What I enjoy so much about this short film is the way it dives into the madness a person is going through. Yet rather than simply demonstrate this, the film has viewers question if Reese is actually going mad or if he simply has bad luck.
The film is captured in the same way Reese views the world, which makes it difficult for the viewer to understand what is real and what is not.
Reese’s interactions with his girlfriend start to go downhill, with her appearing to have multiple personalities that shift with no warning. Alongside this, Reese sees an old man hitting his head with a hard object that draws blood. Viewers can assume this to be the same man standing outside the house in the beginning.
This can lead one to think the madness that takes over Reese has already consumed this man. Either that, or this man may be a being that haunts the chair and does not actually exist for others to see.
Regardless of what the man represents, the short film continues with a calendar and Reese’s visions. We can understand that he is trying to keep track of the days, despite not being able to control what happens during them.
The film’s ending is one I enjoy and hate at the same time. It leaves the story open for interpretation with no set ending. However, we also hear the old man talking about what happens after a person dies, hinting at death being easier than life. I would like to think this represents Reese’s mindset near the end and how he struggles to keep going in a world he no longer understands.
“The Chair” is a short film that is easy to watch, especially if you do not want to sit for an entire movie. I would rate it an 8/10 because of the intense moments and consistent interest throughout. There was not a single second I found myself bored. The film was able to take an ordinary object and make it ruin the main character’s life, leaving room for interpretation and discussion.
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