A One Mann’s Movies review of “Something Pointless”. (2026, 4*, ‘PG’).
I sometimes get sent short films that are ‘doing the festival circuit’ and looking for a ground-swell of support to get into consideration for the BAFTA/Academy Awards. And “Something Pointless” was a case in point.
Director Asa Bailey is a pioneer in incorporating AI-based effects into real-life movies and the scary thing here is that it is almost impossible to detect when AI is being used and when it is not. Many people may have a visceral negative gut-reaction to the use of AI in movies, but it is inevitably going to be in our future as it gets better and better – – so we’d all better get used to that.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Aldous Evans (Owen Teale) is an elderly man with failing health. He seeks to do “something pointless” every day, just for the halibut (as Monty Python used to say). But his random action has a positive inter-generational effect on a bullied youngster (Leo Harris).
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This film has not yet been classified by the BBFC, but from the content (some scenes of grief; school bullying) I would suggest it would be a ‘PG’.)
Talent:
Starring: Owen Teale, Leo Harris, Sophie Thompson, Sule Rimi, Radhika Aggarwal, Jennifer Evans, Tom Mumford.
Directed by: Asa Bailey.
Written by: Neil Graham & David Cormican.
Running Time: 15m.
Review:
Positives:
- Neil Graham and David Cormican won the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition way back in 2010 with this screenplay and you can see why: it’s a very nicely balanced story, incorporating a diverse range of ages and comprising some compelling themes. All compressed into a tight little 15 minute run-time that never lost my interest.
- I tend to complain about voiceovers in movies, but this is really quite cleverly done. Owen Teale’s voiceover over the opening titles acts more as an internal monologue which briefly pauses as Aldous, on screen, has a massive coughing attack. Quite cute.
- Owen Teale (“Save the Cinema“, “Dream Horse“) adds a bit of acting gravitas to the role of Aldous. It’s a nice little performance and Leo Harris, as the “boy who never smiles”, we ultimately find DOES have a radiant smile!
- One of the most interesting scenes has Sule Rimi as a headmaster conducting an interview with the boy’s parents (Jennifer Evans and Tom Mumford) who clearly hardly ever look at their son since they can’t come up with a single concrete example of when they’ve seen their son smile. How sadly true this probably is and damning of our iphone-obsessed home lives that we lead!
- I paused it at one point to ask the Illustrious Mrs Movie Man (who was born in Newport, South Wales) “isn’t that the transporter bridge in the background?” And indeed it was. Newport couldn’t be described as the most photogenic city in the world, and (apart from the TV series “Sex Education” which was filmed at Caerleon College where my MIL used to work) I can’t immediately think of another film that has been shot there. But in terms of locations, it suits the film very well.
Negatives:
- I was rather expecting Aldous to do ‘something pointless’ but something different every day. What he actually does is to do basically the same pointless thing day-after-day. And isn’t that just doing something deliberate and project-based? Good as it was, I’m not sure the story completely delivered on my expectations.
- There were just one or two moments where there were a couple of DP glitches: for example, a scene at the start of the film wanders out of focus when Aldous is walking home.
Summary Thoughts:
A nice, thoughtful little short film that is of particular interest due to the AI content within it: not done for AI’s sake, but to add interest and spice to the mix. What might be interesting is to see whether this “AI-tag” will influence the awards councils looking to shortlist this year’s short films.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV_UHyjoL_8.
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