R.J. Glass gives his audience a parental nightmare with his short film Benny’s Second Birthday. Full of rightful paranoia, this is a psychological horror that ticks the right boxes.

Little Benny is turning two years old, but when his pregnant mother Claire (Allegra Edwards) starts encountering strangers who seem to know her toddler and are attending his birthday party, she is forced to confront what exactly the reason is why her son is so popular and why he is suddenly whispering into people’s ears.

Toddlers are exhausting, and for poor Claire, she is fighting an uphill struggle during her second pregnancy. Her toddler Benny is a tad eager to be around her all the time, while her husband takes as much of a backseat as you can imagine. So, during this stressful time, what better than for your son to suddenly decide to grab people and whisper something mysterious into their ears, making them completely change demeanours?

The interesting aspect of how gender roles play out between the parents here is one of the film’s subtle strengths. We see how much Claire is struggling with everything going on, while her husband does the important thing of blowing up balloons and does absolutely zero parenting. Even when things become highly suspicious, like utter strangers turning up to the party, her husband just goes with the flow a little too easily. She is never validated in any form, as a mother nor a wife and even at his young age, Benny continually ignores his mother’s wishes. She has limited control, and at all points you are feeling sorry for her.

Benny’s Second Birthday hinges on a couple of things. One of them is the performance of lead Allegra Edwards, who has to sell the frustration of the day’s circumstances, to confusion at people knowing her son, and then the terror of the final act. She nails it here, with there rarely being a second when we aren’t stressed out for her.

R.J. Glass wisely goes for the psychological here instead of the graphic, even right up until the last shots, which give us a firm idea of what has happened; he holds back on showing us too much. It allows the worst thing for an audience: our imagination to take over the reasoning behind everything. Wearing its 1960s and 70s influences on its sleeve, we are taken down a paranoid nightmare. The slow build does wonders for the film. Add to this what young Benny does to his cake, and the horror is only increased.

A wonderfully creepy horror short. Benny’s Second Birthday keeps the tension high while making sure new and future parents are positively horrified.

★★★★

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