This experimental short is a depiction of memories and dreams of a person experiencing intense fear after living the perils of an elongated abduction.

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A young man kidnapped as a child is finally found. What we see is his flow of paranoid thoughts, picturesque memories, anxious dreams and bits of reality that merge into a suspenseful vision of panic.

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The character lies on a mattress in a filthy basement and as he finds the keys and gets out, he discovers his childhood toys, but also posters announcing his missing. Wandering around the near-by woods and neighborhood, he can’t identify anyone and scares people he meets. He experiences everything with amplified senses and a sense of fear. Pieces of his experiences after being found merge with the image of the decaying house he was imprisoned in.

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“Found” is a cinematic vision of angst and the main purpose of the creative mind behind it is to convey a mood. Using a limited amount of material resources, but also uncomplicated postproduction artifices, the director succeeds in manipulating our perception through the pace of editing and the juxtaposition of tense music. The short features no dialogue and its storyline come second to its main subject - the contrasting feelings of the main character, his post-traumatic delirium, his turmoil and distorted vision of the reality.

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The director chose a mix of techniques to build the desired atmosphere, using hand-held camera, tracking shots and subjective point-of-view takes. In the divergent sequences, the picturesque high-key lit images unfold in slow motion to suggest they are only a wish or a dream. The soundtrack is not prominent, but it is well-paced and does its job in keeping the viewer tuned in the visual story.

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The protagonist manages to build a good performance, expressing a wide array of feelings and sensations: dismay, desperation, curiosity, relief, blissfulness.

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All things considered, the director managed to build an enigmatic and breathtaking story, using limited material resources, but working with visual and audio techniques to build a tense atmosphere. “Found” is an experimental thriller that keeps the audience in suspense until the end.