# You need to see this short film, "Terminus" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407 "2008-01-29T02:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/1 "2008-01-29T02:51:44Z")
This is an amazing short film by Trevor Cawood called _Terminus_: [http://www.terminus-movie.com/terminus.html](http://www.terminus-movie.com/terminus.html) It’s about eight minutes long. The “play movie” page has two links, one to YouTube and one to download. I recommend downloading it; it’s about 200MB, but it’s larger and clearer and has better sound. I’ve rarely seen a movie that had me so utterly hooked in the first five seconds, then didn’t disappoint as it went on. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/2 "2008-01-29T03:36:05Z")
Wow. That was incredible. I’m going to have to watch that again and think about it a bit more before coming up with a better response, but…wow. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/3 "2008-01-29T05:16:17Z")
I…don’t get it. Well done on the special effects though, very convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/4 "2008-01-29T05:41:29Z")
The atmosphere of it reminded me of David Cronenberg’s movies. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/5 "2008-01-29T05:57:52Z")
I often feel like horrible 1970’s architecture is going to haunt me for the rest of my life as well. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/6 "2008-01-29T06:27:05Z")
not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/7 "2008-01-29T06:33:03Z")
Special effects were pretty good, and overall I thought it was fine, but I wouldn’t say it was amazing. I never understand why, in stories like this, the person cares so much. Why be scared and run away from it instead of just living with it? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/8 "2008-01-29T09:46:38Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre] I often feel like horrible 1970’s architecture is going to haunt me for the rest of my life as well. [/QUOTE] WHY DO YOU HATE MODERN ARCHITECTURE?!?!? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/9 "2008-01-29T10:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I never understand why, in stories like this, the person cares so much. Why be scared and run away from it instead of just living with it? [/QUOTE] Because they’re paranoid schizophrenics. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/10 "2008-01-29T10:56:05Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Because they’re paranoid schizophrenics. [/QUOTE] Then the thing would be out to get him, not just sitting there, no? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/11 "2008-01-29T17:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] WHY DO YOU HATE MODERN ARCHITECTURE?!?!? [/QUOTE] Because it’s ugly and fake and inorganic and brutal. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/12 "2008-01-29T18:47:17Z")
That was pretty cool. Well conceived and beautifully executed. The clock at 4:51 says “5:23.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/13 "2008-01-29T20:32:27Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] The clock at 4:51 says “5:23.” 🙂 [/QUOTE] I don’t get it. I don’t think the guy was a paranoid schizophrenic. If it was a problem with his mind that pilar man wouldn’t have survived to bother the next guy at the end. I’m not sure what the director was going for, I’ll have think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/14 "2008-01-29T20:33:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Then the thing would be out to get him, not just sitting there, no? [/QUOTE] Maybe he doesn’t have paranoia, but people with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia can imagine all kinds of things. That’s a plausible explanation for the character. I think if anyone, particularly some weird creature made of stone cylinders, started hovering around me all the time, I’d find it unpleasant whether or not he intended to harm me. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/15 "2008-01-29T20:48:35Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] That was pretty cool. Well conceived and beautifully executed. [/QUOTE] I agree. The music is really nice too, sets a great mood. Very professional all around, although I don’t really ‘get it’. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/16 "2008-01-29T21:05:06Z")
Very surreal. Reminds me of the old Twilight Zone show, but this starts weird from the very beginning. It looks to me like the things following people around were manifestations of problems or secrets they had. Sort of a “monkey on your back” sort of thing. The statue curled up in a “protection” stance was following the child, maybe it was indicating the child was being abused? Me, I’d be getting a sledgehammer. Wonder if they guy could see the things following people around before he got his own? Edit: Ooh, I’ve got another theory. The title of the film is “Terminus”, maybe these things start following you around when you’re going to die soon? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/17 "2008-01-29T21:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=HoboStew] I agree. The music is really nice too, sets a great mood. Very professional all around, although I don’t really ‘get it’. [/QUOTE] I don’t “get it” either, but the music was responsible for a lot of the atmosphere created. Hate to say it, but the only other time I remember hearing music like that was from “Cannibal Holocaust”. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/18 "2008-01-29T21:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Very surreal. Reminds me of the old Twilight Zone show, but this starts weird from the very beginning. It looks to me like the things following people around were manifestations of problems or secrets they had. Sort of a “monkey on your back” sort of thing. The statue curled up in a “protection” stance was following the child, maybe it was indicating the child was being abused? Me, I’d be getting a sledgehammer. Wonder if they guy could see the things following people around before he got his own? Edit: Ooh, I’ve got another theory. The title of the film is “Terminus”, maybe these things start following you around when you’re going to die soon? [/QUOTE] Well, all of the objects/creatures following people around are from the airport/terminal that the guy starts out in. Definitely seems like a “monkey on the back” kind of thing, but I’m not sure how that relates given that a lot of the people he started seeing objects around weren’t business people or travelers. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/19 "2008-01-29T23:31:24Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] Well, all of the objects/creatures following people around are from the airport/terminal that the guy starts out in. Definitely seems like a “monkey on the back” kind of thing, but I’m not sure how that relates given that a lot of the people he started seeing objects around weren’t business people or travelers. [/QUOTE] The part that interests me is the scene where the baggage conveyor belt that was following the youngish guy suddenly smacks him upside the head. Does that imply that there was an objective reality to the delusions, or was our protagonist imagining that too? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407/20 "2008-01-29T23:50:37Z")
[QUOTE=HoboStew] I agree. The music is really nice too, sets a great mood. Very professional all around, although I don’t really ‘get it’. [/QUOTE] I liked everything BUT the music. It gave me a headache. But now I want a Cylinder Man of my very own to follow me around and dance for me. I will love him and hug him and squeeze him and call him George. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-need-to-see-this-short-film-terminus/435407.md?page=2)