I didn’t really know what was going on during 213 Kelvin – the trailer is in Spanish and there are no English subtitles – but man, I was hooked. It looks like a disaster movie, but it doesn’t resort to the over-the-top ridiculousness of Roland Emerich’s 2012. Thank God.

The images fly by in a white heat. We see an asteroid hurtling toward Earth, sirens, a news report, and a group of friends trying to stay warm as the temperature plummets – all in the span of about 20 seconds. We then see a series of shots that communicate the increasingly desperate nature of the situation: candles in the dark, clouds blotting out the moon, the temperature dropping, etc. The director, Juan Pennisi, is a rigorous collector of images. He’s a genuine talent – a budding young artist honing his craft. The actors are all beautiful but not in a “One Tree Hill” kind of way; they look like people we can identify with and relate to.

Obviously, I’m excited to see the whole film. I’m a little shocked that this is Pennisi’s first short film – it looks like the work of a seasoned professional.