Spotlight Review: Fingerface (2015)

Time for something a little different here at Flick Chicks! Earlier this month we received an email from a lovely chap called Andrew Dawson. Andrew was living in a small town in Poland teaching English when he developed and produced his feature-length movie, Fingerface. With no filmmaking friends to share his enthusiasm at the time, he set out on a massive journey, working as a screenwriter, director, cast, crew, editor, best boy and chief coffee maker in order to get Fingerface made. 

So what is Fingerface all about, anyway? Well, put in Andrew’s own words, it’s the greatest love story ever told...with fingers. Yes, you read correctly, the entire cast in this feature-length movie are fingers! Giles is our main man (finger) who falls in love with the girl of his dreams, Stephanie. By chance, he meets her in real life, only his real encounter with Stephanie doesn’t go quite as planned. 

Over time, Giles’ quest for love becomes more and more complicated. He learns shocking news about his parents, he gets caught in the middle of a love triangle, and lands himself in a great deal of trouble, all in the name of love!

I have to admit, I had big doubts about Fingerface. I loved the idea of a story told through fingers and thumbs, but I was wary as to how I could be entertained for almost an hour and a half. It all became clear to me after a while though. The story of Giles flies by at a fast pace, but a pace that is entirely necessary. In fact, had this story been told with real-life actors, with actual bodies, I’d complain that the story moved so quickly I had no idea what was going on.  I too had my doubts and for the first 20 minutes, I struggled to stop thinking 'these are fingers' and just enjoy the story but after a while I settled into it and actually found myself itching to find out what happens to Giles and his friends.

This is where the concept works perfectly. By using his fingers to tell this story, Andrew has crammed in an incredibly detailed and interesting plot, with twists and turns left right and centre. It’s also surprisingly funny to watch. There are some subtle jokes within the dialogue and indeed, in the hand-drawn sets, and I’m sure there were ones that I missed that a second viewing will reward me with.  What amazing detail has been included in the sets, the time it must have taken to create all the different sets and props that were used.   I was in awe, especially as the sets change so much and each is completely different from the last.   There was some really great sound work as well, I had fun trying to work out if Andrew was making the noises himself and how he was doing two noises at once.

By the last 40 minutes, I was really into the story and desperate to see how it ended, there was so many twists and turns that I had no idea how it was going to play out which made it all the more entertaining.

It’s no surprise to me that Fingerface won Best Screenplay at the Sydney Indie Film Festival, and I just want to extend a congratulations again to Andrew for his relentless work. It really paid off!  I can't imagine how many hours of work went into this but it is truly an incredible piece of work and Andrew should be really proud of his work.

Fingerface will be released as VOD on 1st December 2015. You can watch the trailer or pre-order the film at https://www.reelhouse.org/andrewdawson/fingerface. If you fancy watching a film like nothing you’ve seen before, I can absolutely recommend this to you. Completely agree, amazing work Andrew!