Corporate is a short black comedy from director Joseph Cox and Average Joe Films. The film recently screened at the Comicpalooza Film Festival in May 2017. The film stars Harry (Jared Pettit), who works in the typical corporate America hell. Co-workers trying to get ahead and climb the corporate ladder, uncaring managers, and, of course, a bloody fight to the death for a promotion. As I said…typical.
Harry’s boss (Robert Walker) announces that the last man, or woman, standing after battling it out gets a promotion. He follows it up by handing out a box full of weapons. While several of the workers are more apprehensive about committing murder, others welcome it. Who doesn’t dream of killing the annoying people in their office once in a while?
The characters truly made the film. Boss and bad guy, Robert Walker, was an absolute delight on-screen and had a standout performance. Main star Jared Pettit was great in his role as well. While the acting wasn’t incredibly strong across the entire cast, the actors with the most screen time nailed their parts.
The humor was off-beat and dark, which is something I always appreciate. Although, it may be a bit too out there for the masses. The production value and cinematography were pretty stellar, especially considering that it is a low budget short film. The special effects and deaths were fun and creative, but one thing that threw a few scenes off for me were the sound effects. For example, when the box of weapons are brought to the table, the clanking that went on for several seconds didn’t match what I was watching on screen. This didn’t ruin the scene for me, but it was a bit distracting.
Joseph Cox has more films in the works and, based on how much I enjoyed Corporate, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.
Good review, Melissa! Sounds like a more comedic version of the Belko Experiment or the Office meets Rambo.