Imagine Guy Ritchie recreating “The Lord of the Rings” in a cop movie. Sounds tempting? Then surely ‘Treble Me This‘ is the short film for you. Sticking to the formula of a murder mystery story that, strangely enough, revolves around a ring, Guy Nicholls signs off a delightfully engaging project, while “abusing” all that is cynical about British humour. We know, it’s a popular, but extremely challenging cinematic style for any creator, especially when the quality of the material, as well as the string of sequences that unravel the central mystery, has such a technical sophistication. In other words, regardless of each viewer’s affinities, one thing is certain: this is a professional director with enviable precision. The pleasure of discovering such a project is all the greater because its rather elaborate narrative thread has everything it takes to coagulate an unpredictable story, coupled with a well-dosed humour. The killing domino brings together characters summing up several familiar typologies that, following the tradition of British comedy, capture a mini-social critique with no shortage of the absurd or those insights into the contemporary bourgeoisie with all its little and big sins.
Built on a tripartite structure where each act proposes a perspective on the events, Guy Nicholls’ short film juggles with dizzying ease between narratives, ultimately delivering two possible solutions. But this Rashomon effect serves not only a plot purpose, but also a deeper one, in that the director deconstructs the conventional pattern of a story à la Hercule Poirot. It all seems more like a macabre farce or the whim of a mastermind who, despite his incompetent acolytes, always manages to stay one step ahead of the rest. All’s well that ends “well”: the mystery is solved, but this is not necessarily essential. Indeed, cynicism ultimately prevails, as anticipated from a project like ‘Treble Me This’, which provides a stimulating and enjoyable experience that won us over.