Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Adrian Silva This short production is an outstanding piece of artwork for who is able to follow up the movie plot and understand its deep meanings. It is indeed a mind-blowing short movie, bringing together in a more insightful way a little bit of previous ideas from other Sci-Fi productions, like some concepts previously presented in The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Zero Theorem, Iron Sky, Jupiter Ascending, Edge of Tomorrow, Interstellar, etc. The special effects are really nice for a small production, and the actors' performance is captivating for such a complex and short story. I have watched it several times and will watch it many other times to come! I my view, this film enters in the category blockbuster with brains and soul.

Michael Oghia I remember seeing a teaser about this film on io9 and getting excited for it. Sure enough, when I finally watched this short, it didn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would love to see the concept turned into a feature-length film. I was a bit confused when things seemed to change so much -- it reminded me a bit of Inception -- but after watching it again, I saw how it all tied together.The quality of the music and costume/prop design should be commended -- I really enjoyed the shorts they made about that process as well. I disagree with another commentator who criticized the acting, I thought it was poignant and well-done. Definitely commend the team for their hard work and hope to see more of this!

imfoxy2 The rest of the views seem to be written by Sci-Fi or computer graphic effect fans. I write this from a different perspective... one of a Shaman. ANY SHAMAN who watches this, can see and understand some of the underlying meanings. To the one(s) who state the acting was bad: Re the blonde who represented the spirit of the machine. She is playing the conscientiousness / mind of a machine... I thought it most appropriate that her statements were short.And to the person who criticized the main character... I would suggest they do a Google search, under images, and use the word shaman. You will find his make up was appropriate to Australian Aboriginal Shamans... and if you look at the pictures in your Google search, you will find must of us aren't Hollywood models.My only disappointment with this short was to find out it was a short, and not just a trailer for a full length movie.CROW DRUMMING DEER aka DOC

bob the moo I watch a lot of short films; partly because I do like the way that the short form has less pressure which means people can experiment more than they could be a bigger feature film, but also the short time means I can see contained work despite a busy schedule. As a result of this I see a lot of sci-fi shorts that are looking to be the next big blockbuster by getting picked up by a studio. Some of these proof-of-concepts are pretty good, and deliver on their own terms as a short film too; however many of them are little more than special effects showreels that deliver nothing to the viewer of the short. I tend not to like them for this very reason.With The Shaman, there is an element of that. We are thrown into a world that I really didn't understand, and into a battle of effects and noise. So far so dull I was thinking, however the main body of the short is a dialogue scene which is actually quite a good idea and had potential to make the film more than just telling me the producers had access to some very powerful computers. It doesn't quite manage to deliver on this potential though, and the film ended up being one that I liked for trying to be more than just the usual 'sci-fi pitch' short film, but yet it never really sparkled as the design and smart central scene device suggested it would.