A hitman seeks revenge.


GOOD BAD LUCK is used with permission from Vadym Medvediuk. Learn more at vadymmedvediuk.com/.


A contract killer takes a man out to the woods. The killer's wife has been cheating on him with the man, and the hitman is out for revenge. Just as he's about to pull the trigger, a lone woodsman creeps up behind him with an ax. But in a stroke of luck, a chance sneeze saves the killer from being killed himself.

That one sneeze sets off a chain of events in which luck -- both good and bad -- intervenes in the fates of a seemingly unconnected group of people, pulling them together in unexpected ways.

Directed and written by Vadym Medvediuk, this darkly comical short -- which was shot by cinematographer Halyna Hutchins before her tragic passing -- examines the role of fate and unexpected violence in a cross-section of characters as they grapple with various moral and emotional dilemmas. With its mix of unexpectedly soulful criminal lowlifes, philosophically inclined salt-of-the-earth everyday folks and a holy fool or two, it will appeal to fans of the Coen brothers' oeuvre, adding a certain Eastern European sophistication in the musical score and a nostalgic, gritty gloss in the visuals.

The storytelling starts as a patchwork, introducing its cast of characters in a series of tangentially connected scenes, shot with a certain cheeky flair and an eye for the bleakness of its winter wilderness setting. A mother-son pair, a pair of hunter friends, a hitman with the man he thinks is cuckolding him: they all are at the high point of dealing with various crises and problems, captured with wry wit and an eye for their absurdity.

The structure is complex, and the dialogue is also rich with their thoughts and reflections in a way that will delight Tarantino devotees. The film seemingly ambles as it soaks in the eccentricities of its characters, but eventually builds up to a collision of fates, each set intersecting with unexpected and often comical results.

The cast, led by actor Josh Odsess-Rubin as the hitman, deftly balances the film's tonal complexity, hitting the humorous moments while also staying true to the roiling emotions and situations they're dealing with. What's funny is how easily they are distracted by sometimes petty or trivial concerns, until a chance happening causes them to look up and realize how their situation has veered out of control.

Intricately plotted, mordantly funny and a wild ride all around, GOOD BAD LUCK is a love letter to the era of 90s independent cinema, when dark crime capers especially flourished, filled with an almost anarchic energy and a joy in letting loose. Much of that spirit can be found here, in this tale of lost souls bumbling through life as best as they can. We get the sense of a collective portrait of humanity's solipsism, each individual or unit squabbling and scrabbling -- so preoccupied that they aren't aware of the opportunities or inner workings of good and bad fortune at work in their lives, swaying a precarious situation one way or the other until it's too late.