Paul Hibbard

St. Louis

Contributor at ZekeFilm

My profile on Letterboxd https://t.co/0WsERuLVYI

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Articles

SALEM HORROR 2025: Selected Shorts

1 month ago | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

Below is a smattering of capsule reviews of some of the finest short films that played 2025 Salem Horror Fest. The horror movie Festival ran from April 30 to May 4, 2025. Bloody Mary is a clever twist on an old curse, mixing in the familiar horror setup with a fresh conflict: you have to say the right words to end the Bloody Mary curse, but saying them wrong only makes things worse.
SALEM HORROR Review Round-up!

2 months ago | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

Below is a smattering of capsule reviews of select films playing at the 2025 Salem Horror Fest. The horror movie Festival runs from April 30 to May 4, 2025. So Fades the Light is a haunting meditation on the trauma that religion can inflict — not only on the individual, but on the broader national psyche. It conjures echoes of real-world tragedies like Waco, capturing both the micro and macro dimensions of faith distorted into fanaticism.
THE REBRAND - Film Review

2 months ago | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY KAYE ADELAIDE/2025The Rebrand is a horror-comedy — but unlike most horror-comedies, it’s actually funny. And maybe even more impressively, it’s genuinely disturbing. Where a lot of films in this genre lean on scattered bursts of horror, usually in the form of cheap jump scares, The Rebrand manages something trickier: it taps into a real sense of demented, haunted unease.
THE SHROUDS - Film Review

2 months ago | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY DAVID CRONENBERG/2025There’s something about David Cronenberg’s films that has always struck me as a paradox. They are icy, clinical, cerebral — and yet, paradoxically, they offer a kind of strange warmth, like the comfort of a familiar, well-worn blanket. Part of that resonance comes from the way Cronenberg dismantles the traditional artifice of filmmaking.
OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2025: ANIMATION

Feb 27, 2025 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

The organization SHORTS (home of ShortsTV) has brought this year’s batch of 2025’s Oscar nominated Live Action, Documentary, and Animated Short Films to movie theaters. Check your local listings to see if and when the Showcases will be playing. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: https://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/. All five nominees for Best Animated Short Film are reviewed here by Paul Hibbard.
Opinion: WICKED, THE BRUTALIST, and Trump 2.0

Feb 25, 2025 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

The first time Donald Trump became president, I remember people saying, “Well, at least we’re going to get some incredible films in response.” And sure, there were great films. In 2018, BlacKKKlansman and Sorry to Bother You delivered a one-two punch of sharp, socially conscious storytelling. But if I’m honest, the overall cinematic response to Trump didn’t live up to the moment. The potential was there, but the results often felt muted, overly polished, or lacking in intellectual rigor.
WHERE IN THE HELL - Capsule Film Review

Nov 17, 2024 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY LARAMIE DENNIS/2024Where in the Hell is a refreshingly quirky road trip comedy that thrives on its moments of unexpected silence and striking character chemistry. When Kasey, a jaded prop master played by Cam Killion, is left high and dry by her vanishing girlfriend in a remote Californian town, she finds herself at a complete loss—no ride, no cell service, and no clue where to turn. Enter Alan (Joohun Lee), a struggling actor on his way to a dubious audition in Canada.
THE LOVED AND LOST - Capsule Film Review

Nov 17, 2024 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY ANNA THALMAN/2024The Loved and Lost dives into the complexities of family dynamics amidst financial hardship, capturing both the love and tension that surface when a young family finds themselves on shaky ground. The film’s opening unfolds in a quick-cut, free-flowing style, almost like a stream of consciousness. This brisk introduction pulls us swiftly into the family’s world, efficiently familiarizing us with the characters and their nuances.
TO DIE ALONE - Capsule Film Review

Nov 17, 2024 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY AUSTIN SMAGALSKI/2024To Die Alone is an emotionally intense and beautifully crafted thriller that takes the survival genre to a place of deep introspection. After a life-threatening injury leaves her stranded in the wilderness, Irving (played with raw vulnerability by Lisa Jacqueline Starrett) faces a desperate struggle for survival on the Pacific Crest Trail.
THE CINEMA WITHIN - Capsule Film Review

Nov 15, 2024 | zekefilm.org | Paul Hibbard

DIRECTED BY CHAD FREIDRICHS/2024I once heard someone say that film is meant to mirror our dreams, reflecting the way we experience them. The Cinema Within takes a slightly different approach—it suggests that film mirrors how we naturally perceive the world, where cuts and edits are akin to our blinks, and the way we scan a room resembles how shots might jump around a space in cinema.