TL;DR – Tense, engaging, and captivating.    

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Poison Review –

After watching The Rat Catcher last night, I discovered it was not just a one-off, with Wes Anderson producing several of Roald Dahl’s short stories. With that in mind, I needed to see if they were all as absurdly compelling as the first, and I jumped into Poison.  
                          
It was midnight when Timber Woods (Dev Patel) drove home, trying not to wake his roommate. He should not have bothered because Harry (Benedict Cumberbatch) was still awake. Perplexed, Woods stuck his head in to see how he was when a barely audible whisper sang out ‘Help!‘.  

While the previous short film hinted at its origins as a play, this episode dives into them headfirst with moving sets, more clear stagehands, all while cementing the framing device. This allows the story to move frenetically without losing one iota of momentum. Given how dangerous the Krait is [70-80% fatality rate], you feel that tension at every moment.

As the focus is entirely on a bed where one of the characters can only whisper with bated breath. This means that every moment and facial expression must sell the danger because revealing the snake is to tempt death. Every actor is captivating you with every movement, every look of an eye, and every mouth twitch.

One interesting moment, and we are talking about the ending here, is how one change completely changes the context of the narrative. The short film ends with a verbal slap to the face for one of the characters and the audience itself. But here, there is no attempt to rationalise away a character’s racism. The film makes you sit in it. It is the right choice.

In the end, do we recommend Poison? Yes, we do. The tension in this film is palpable, you feel it in every moment, and it draws you in to where you can’t escape.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Poison
Directed by – Wes Anderson
Screenplay by – Wes Anderson
Based on – Poison by Roald Dahl
Cinematography by – Robert Yeoman
Edited by – Andrew Weisblum & Barney Pilling
Production/Distribution Companies – Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Picture & Netflix
Starring – Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes & Ben Kingsley
Rating – Australia: PG