As evidenced by his past features The Way and Day 9, director Dastan Khalili is drawn to stories that blend action, tension and a spiritual or metaphysical quest. That’s the case with his latest, the short film The Sniper. Working from a script by Chris Calzia, Khalili brings his distinctive voice to this gritty story about a former sniper battling PTSD. He’s reunited with Johanna Watts who appeared in his Day 9 and with Eli Jane who starred in The Way. The short film is a two hander about Reagan (Watts), a steely eyed former markswoman now holed up in an apartment as she struggles to cope with being “ordinary” after 20 years of power and purpose as an expert sniper.
Flashbacks and fantasies plague her as she fixes her assault rifle out a window. But the scenario is all in her head as she is haunted by the past and her addiction to being programmed to aim and kill. Her therapist and friend Marion (played by Jane) visits with food and tries to coax Reagan from the ledge of psychological trauma and self-medication. In a taut 20 minutes, Khalili and the two actors create palpable tension as Reagan teeters between the reality of the moment and her traumatic past. Marion isn’t entirely convincing as a therapist skilled enough to talk the volatile Reagan out of her seething anger. But their interaction is compelling and the resolution succinct and satisfying.
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