Sugar Rag (2024)

Screened for Blood Sick Underground Film Festival.

Sugar Rag is an award-winning short from Director Jai Love depicting an unsettling fight for affection when a new sibling enters their family. As a first child I have experienced this emotional torment twice and the urge to keep these parental bonds to yourself is real.

This is depraved, twisted, unexpectedly comical and completely unforgettable. With bass heavy sound design, intense tracking shots of Alfred (Carter Jude Dau), and offbeat character design, we’re thrown into a David Lynch influenced world. Newborn Remus (Aaron Light) is a particular standout, depicted as a grown adult flipping the bird and suckling on his mother’s breast, much to her pleasure. Choosing Remus as the new offspring’s name provides an inescapable sense of foreboding; a reference to the Greek mythological tale of Romulus and Remus, in which Romulus murders his younger brother to win the favour of the gods.

Jai Love sews the seeds of a villain backstory with ease, as young Alfred could become a beloved serial killer in years to come. The anxiety created from knowing someone so young is to a breakdown resulting in extreme consequences is harrowing and something that lingers in the darkness of your mind long after the end credits roll.