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Review: Robbie Barnes’ Beyond Repair

Robbie Barnes is killing it as an actress; seeing starring roles in Scarred and Krampus: The Devil Returns as well as the heavily publicized upcoming features Night of the Living Dead: Rebirth and Fighting the Sky. While making her mark in independent cinema history, Robbie also aims to take 2018 by storm with her new short film Beyond Repair. On the heels of previous ventures, 2012’s N.O.L.A. and 2016’s He Chose Her, Beyond Repairs follows an average woman cruising around an unfamiliar neighborhood one night. When she needs to make a pit stop, the nearest working car repair shop appears to be her best bet. However, the mechanic is harboring a dark secret, and all of his previous customers are dying to tell it… literally. Spirit in the Woods‘ Kinsley Funari, The Connected‘s Ember Burns, Jesse Dillon Sorrells, Christopher Kyriakides, George Tutie and Barnes star in this exciting, eight minute horror short.

Beyond Repair starts off almost like a rebellious teen drama. Our lead actress, Kinsley Funari, is driving around in her car listening to an array of music. The atmosphere, the cinematography, and the relate-able vibes make it seem… cool. Artistic even. It definitely had some meat to it and was a showcase of above-average talent on both sides of the camera before the horror sneaks up on you. And it does so rather quickly with an ominous reveal and a disgusting, creepy empty bathroom. Once the young woman goes into the bathroom stall, you just know something bad is about to happen to her. The suspense is roaringly successful at this point, and I wasn’t expecting to like Beyond Repair as much as I was. Writer/director Robbie Barnes and cinematographer/editor Christopher Langer pulled off real movie magic and created a short film that forces you to invest yourself in its lead character. I even found myself yelling, “Do not take your hands off that fucking door!”

It’s because of that emotional punch, that easy going, enthralling nature of Beyond Repair, that I hope it goes to film festivals. I honestly think it’s going to be a title to look out for and it’s certainly deserving of numerous awards. It’s a modern horror film with massive appeal to the current thrill seekers in the genre, and it’s a shorter, more condensed version of the Rest Stop movies that used to air on SyFy Network every other week. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much? Beyond Repair is surprisingly good; raunchy, chilling, gripping and contemporary. Executed to perfection from start to finish, minus the audio problems in the mechanic’s shop at the beginning. Plus, I loved the rasp in Kinsley Funari’s voice. What a great choice in casting! To avoid spoilers and praise-worthy ramblings, I’m going to end this one here. What a superb way to end my 2017 reviews. Final Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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