The Root of the Pro “ blem” is a short horror film directed by Ryan Spindell. The plot of “The Root of the Problem” is centered on a patient, who comes to a dentist to pull out her wisdom tooth. However, the procedure that is used to be ordinary and fast turns into a nightmare for the woman, awakening her inner fears of dentists and tooth fairies. The viewer is unaware of that whether there is something wrong with the clinic, the doctor and his assistant, or with the patient herself up to the ending of the film. Spindell’s film is an outstanding work due to interesting and unpredictable storyline and special effects, realistic setting, impressing performance and note-worthy editing.
Spindell’s film is set at the dentist’s office that seems…show more content… She is of the same type as her heroine: she is not young, elegant and restrained. Gallaher’s performance is very realistic as she reacts to even the smallest details of action and setting with the use of a variety of mimic expressions. For instance, her reactions to a shaking tube and blinking light at the beginning of the film are complex and interesting. The first part of Spindell’s film before Mary’s encounter with her dentist contains no dialogue, and Gallaher masterfully informs the viewers of her phobia and her attempts to overcome the fear through her mimics and body language. Ptolemy Slocum also professionally plays the role of a creepy dentist perfectly balancing between friendliness and maniac behavior.
“The Root of the Problem” contains one note-worthy edit with the use of fade-out and fade-in. A slow fade-out to white signifies an ending of the scene, in which Mary gets to know that her doctor and his assistant are monsters and loses her consciousness. Then, the white blank shot fades to black, and the next scene, in which the medical personnel are normal, begins with a fade-in. These transitions not only represent change of the scenes and compress time, but reflect the feelings of the main character, for whom time runs unnoticeably under