WHAT IN THE WORLD | Omeleto

A young woman asks a stranger to take her picture.

A distraught man is driving on a remote country road, music blaring and boxes of stuff rattling in his backseat. But despite his emotion, he stops when he spots a young woman next to a car flagging him down.

But she's not stranded. Instead, she has an odd request: she needs someone to take her picture. Turns out, this is the first of many odd, strange requests and stories she will tell him -- as an equally outlandish story unfolds, unbeknownst to him.

Written and directed by Jamie Fraser, this dark comedic short is as oddly captivating as the seemingly guileless, quirky young woman at the center of the story. Like the film, she spins an almost freakish story, told with such matter-of-factness that we can't help but be swept along upon what turns out to be an even odder tale.

The strength of the film is its unpredictability, starting with the visuals and editing, which have both a pastoral, understated naturalism that suits the setting, and camerawork that is almost stately in its movement. Yet there's something just slightly off-kilter in the bright classical score and the editing's rhythms, which also suits how the young woman tells her story.

As she veers from one request to the next, she weaves a type of narrative Jenga, balancing one strange block on the next. There are an accident, dead parents, and a nunnery involved, and actor Charly Clive weaves it all together with a mesmerizing balance of vulnerability, charm and command. She delivers the nimble dialogue with terrific timing, but the rhythm is rooted not in the demands of hitting a punchline, but of character and circumstance.

Unraveling those circumstances takes WHAT IN THE WORLD into unexpected directions. To elaborate more would be to give some of the pleasure away, but the truth is even weirder and more eccentric than the young woman's story. It unspools with ironic cheekiness, but it also unearths the distressed man's own story, which exists at a more tragic and sincere register. The juxtaposition of these two stories colliding one random afternoon in the countryside creates its strange poignancy, both for the audience and perhaps even for the young woman, who offers up a sincere moment of comfort. It's said that we are all starring in our own movies, and certainly, the man and young woman are amid their own very different journeys. But when our separate narratives intersect, even for just an incident, it makes for those riveting, singular moments that make life random, peculiar and oddly resonant.

[veggiesarefruits]

He likely won't know that they syphoned gas from his car, and was actually grateful in the end, because he was able to speak to someone he believed understood him. So, while they thought they were gonna screw him over, he actually got something good out of it, while SHE got the consequence of guilt for her actions. Great way to turn the tables.

[raterus]

The whole plan would have been ruined if he parked on the right side of the road, instead of the left.

[AndroSpud]

Fellas... Just because she's pretty, doesn't mean she's nice.

[felix_quintana]

He was smart enough to don't put himself at risk and smart enough to give her a lifetime guilt feeling.

[blakkat]

After the first scream in the car, that's when I'd put the camera on the car, say "thank you" and get the hell out of there.

[deepsleep]

I kept expecting her to suddenly start the car and run the guy over. That's pretty dark of me isn't it?

[rosebud]

*HE SAW HIM* How is no one talking about this. I think he realized what was happening and decided to torture her with a sad story right back 😂

[barbarageddis]

Be good/ nice to others, you never know how their day has been...

[superchargedpetrolhead]

I was expecting her to be a serial killer, who baits people and runs them over at the spot where her parents died....

[Rwededyet]

I was expecting a twist like "And I know YOU were the one who caused the crash"

[Domagoj_Pintaric]

The guy really believed that she waited for hours for someone to come along and take a picture from two feet distance instead of taking a selfie.

[snoople]

13 minutes straight of me just staring at the hair sticking out the girl’s hair

[karlgalvez]

"My parents died here" dawg, when she said that I thought the twist in the end is that she also died in the accident and just became ghost or someshit like that. Omeleto will just make you think stuffs in your head 😂 nice writing! with the calm "heavenly" music along with the deep yet simple plot twist that will hit you right on the spot!

[ianmacfarlane]

Plot twist - the Fiat 126 doesn't take diesel.

[cahidijoyoraharjo]

Aaaaannnnd... that's how less and less people are willing to help strangers. I guess no good deeds left unpunished.

[musicisbrilliant]

I freaking LIVE for these short films!!! Theyre so wonderful. Always such great personalities. They remind me that the world is NOT an inherently bad place. Thank you short-film makers and omeleto!

[__-pljg]

My first thought was...This lady is about to taze the guy and drive away with his body and/or car. People, if someone EVER flags you down on the road and starts saying odd things you need to have one hand on your pocket knife or pistol because you're about to get robbed in some way....I promise.

[arkajyotijha]

All jokes aside, the acting in this short was so, so riveting!

[thefishfin-atic]

He fully knew what was going on. On several occasions, he saw the man behind his car, and saw the top of his head too. I think he came up with that story, or embellished it for her, to make her feel guilty for what she had done.

[darylkik]

Found this channel by accident and this is the third film and I am hooked. Always more to the story than we may ever know as individuals interacting in the world. It was nice for a moment to see both sides of their stories. Thank you.