Creatures of Habit (2024)

-Written by John Cajio. 

Creatures of Habit is an independent short film that does not suck. Writer-Director Bryon Jones neatly and deftly deconstructs the habits all of us succumb to and oftentimes rely on. An especially strong performance by Timothy J. Cox adds gravitas to the film. 

Meekah (Theo White) is a creature of habit: he regularly goes to a local dive bar, orders three shots, and sits alone while studying cold murder cases as a journalist, hoping to uncover some desperate clue that will blow the case wide open (and, perhaps, his career). One day, however, a Stranger (Cox) joins him, dressed in a black duster jacket and a hat pulled down so low that only a mustachioed pair of lips remains visible beneath its wide brim. That’s all we ever see of him. As it turns out, that’s enough. 

At a scant six and a half minutes in length, Creatures of Habit has no time to waste. And so it doesn’t waste any of it. Every scene is functional, whether it’s the opening scene showing Meekah ordering “the usual,” tossing some cash on the bar, and idly leafing through some case files while waiting for his shots of liquor to the conversation that Meekah engages in with the Stranger, which appears to start out on even footing before the Stranger clearly demonstrates he had the advantage the entire time. Nothing is wasted. 

The cinematography is effective throughout, clearly drawing the viewer’s attention to the things that the filmmakers want highlighted, whether it’s establishing Meekah’s habits at the bar, his emotional collapse as the Stranger slowly reveals shocking things to him, or the Stranger’s extreme confidence borne out of knowing things no one else knows. 

It’s not perfect. I found Theo White’s performance very occasionally wooden, and the music, while appropriate, was entirely too generic. 

But Creatures of Habit is an excellent short film at the end of the day, well worth the six and a half minutes it takes to see it. 

Written and Directed by Bryon Jones

Starring Theo White, Timothy J. Cox, & Abby Boswell.

7.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING (IT DOES NOT SUCK)