I’ve reviewed several shorts by Michael Coulombe such as Love Me Not and Santa, his collaboration with Alexander Henderson (Sacren). Well, they’ve gotten together again for a web series, Safer-At-Home. Set during an outbreak that has everyone quarantined it’s meant to be a bit of free entertainment while COVID-19 has us quarantined.
In the first episode, “Big Bertha & Idris”, Shannon (Jenny Nwene, The Return of the Psycho Sisters) may have conjured something up while trying to amuse herself. She goes over to watch TV with Melissa (Nicoletta Hanssen, The Dark Tapes) and Jacob (Adam Cabrera, Awaken). But due to quarantine has to sit out on the patio. However, when she starts to have seizures they bring her inside.
In the second episode, “The Calm Before The Storm”, Melissa, Jacob and their neighbour James (Darnell Maurice Williams) try to figure out what to do about Shannon. Especially as her symptoms are more like something out of a horror film than those of the Corona Virus. The episode ends on a cliffhanger.
The IMDB page for Safer-At-Home lists a third episode, “It’s a War Zone in Here” scheduled to drop on the 24th. I don’t know if it’s the final episode or just as far as they’ve gotten.
The two episodes of Safer-At-Home that I’ve seen are both well done. Their short lengths are perfect for a plot that seems to drop minor plot points while building up to something. They’re just long enough to be interesting without a lot of padding to make them drag. It also makes them easy to watch between getting things done around the house while you’re stuck inside.
The episodes are available on The Installments YouTube Channel along with some of the group’s other projects. Or you can watch them below. You can find out more on The Installments Facebook page.