Iris (II) (2012) User Reviews

Incredibly original.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 28 February 2013]

I was recently contacted by the writer/director of "Iris", Justin Lee. Apparently he was disheartened because folks were slamming his films with lots of very, very low scores and he just asked me to see two of his shorts and review them. This is unusual for me, but I was happy to--and noticed that his shorts were awfully good. Why would anyone want to give scores like 1s to a film by a new filmmaker?! We should be encouraging these folks--not slamming them.

The idea in "Iris" is amazingly original. It's apparently a sci-fi film based in the very, very near future. Dating is now quite different, as instead of meeting and getting to know all about a person, folks have rings that emit a holographic writeup of who you are and your education! The film begins with a lady (Claudia Graf) meeting a man and exchanging information using the rings. She's a Harvard grad--he's from Princeton and Yale. Obviously two very powerful and successful young people. So where's the twist? See the film.

I was impressed by the professionalism of the project as well as Ms. Graf's acting range. I must warn you, however, that the film is NOT for young kids and has some sexual content necessary for the plot. Well worth seeing and very clever.

I thought it was truly brilliant

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 17 November 2019]

"Iris" is an American live action short film from 2012, so also 7 years old now already, maybe more depending on when you read this review. At under 6 minutes, it really isn't a long watch at all, but this one is really a perfect example of how you can get in quality entertainment and a compelling story no matter how many minutes you have to do so. Writer and director Justin S. Lee succeeded here without a doubt. Can't say too much about the actors, but it surprised me a bit to see that the lead actress is German, even if her name sure sounds like that. Anyway, she still has a prolific acting career nowadays many years after this movie and she is not the only cast member that fits this description luckily. It's maybe equally surprising that a male actor here is from Iceland or even more. A wild mixture of nationalities in this one you can say, also with the director's roots perhaps. In terms of the cast, the talent is definitely there. But the best thing is the story. This plays in the future and scientific progress has been huge. So when a man and woman meet and show an interest into one another they touch with their hands and see where the other made his degree and what their current profession is. Really the coldest unemotional thing that could be when two people touch. So cold and sterile. Nonetheless the two fall for each other or at least the female falls for the guy. And at the end, we also find out that it is the other way around. But the focus is on the female because her depiction of professional/study career is a lie and she bought this "boost" from a shady salesman. However, she is scared of losing her love interest because he really seems to be well-off, so she has to think of a way how she can succeed in a way that he stays with her. The answer is make the lie about her profession and studies permanent. This is going to take a big prize though, one she finds pretty repulsive because the salesman accepts flesh when she cannot pay the big sum of money. In the end, there is a (not so) small plot twist involving the female's love interest that basically turned this from 3 stars out of 5 into 4 for me. Really good and actually this film can make you think a lot if you let it to. I am writing this as somebody who really could not care less about what my significant other does on a professional basis as long as it makes her somewhat happy. But many many people think today already the way it is common in the society we have here. The two are actually peers (even if they admittedly look rich no denying), but are too scared of exposing oneself to each other, which could have avoided a lot of conflict. And yes well the only thing missing for many people today who think this way too that it is all about money, career, social status etc. is really the technology with these really cool-looking but despicable special effect technologies. Oh well, I watched this movie a little while after it came out back then already and now I watched it again and I think it is as good and as relevant and should really be seen by many more people. But the slightly over 30 who gave it a rating ov above 8 out of 10 got it right. It's a definite contender for best short film from 2012 and criminally underseen. I suggest you move on to Youtube now and change that because Lee and everybody els eworking on it deserve it. Highly highly recommended.