The pilot for a proposed web series, Pill is a fifteen minute look at three teenage boys, Theo (Tristian Waterson), Kalvin (Muzafar Afifi) and Jay (Jordan McFarlane), They’re on the brink of becoming adults and trying to figure out how to get on with their lives.
At the center of Pill is a pill that can make time pass. You function normally, you’re just not aware of it until the pill wears off. Which is a great way to get through those boring parts of the day. The one catch is you don’t remember what happened while you’re under the influence of it. Needless to say this leads to some unintended consequences which spiral out of control.
Writer Tristian Waterson and director Dan Lowenstien manage to get a lot out of Pill’s short running time. Theo has his plans to go to university potentially derailed and Kalvin loses his job as a result of using the pill. Jay introduces them to a local crime boss to prove they can still have a future that doesn’t involve poverty. That’s when things turn very dark.
Pill does share certain coming of age and crime issues with Stationary, another film on the MYM YouTube channel that I recently reviewed. It’s interesting to see the contrast in the way the two films approach them. One is strongly realistic, while the other uses an element of fantasy to create a realistic story. I also like the way Pill, while staying serious still managed to make me chuckle at times rather than being completely humorless.
Tristian Waterson says that a second episode is on the way. Hopefully it’s of the same quality as this one. You can check Pill out right here or on the Million Youth Media YouTube Channel along with their other shorts. You can check out the website for his production company Two Letter Productions as well.