A young musician is chained to a piano until she makes a hit song.


THE SESSION is used with permission from Jack Bynum. Learn more at    / @jackbynum  .


Brandy is a musician and recording artist who is struggling to follow up on a promising debut. But one day, she is kidnapped. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a recording studio, handcuffed to a piano.

In the recording booth, there's a man that Brandy can't see. But over the loudspeaker, she can hear him, and he directs her to start writing. He's a record producer, tyrannical and demanding, and he himself is under the gun from his label to get Brandy to make something and fulfill their investment in her -- and the producer must do anything to get the hit she's capable of.

Directed and written by Jack Bynum, this intriguing short thriller-drama begins with momentum and mystery, as a woman wakes up and discovers she's handcuffed to a piano. As the scenario emerges more and we meet the two main characters whose conflict powers the plot, we see the narrative is not one of subtle realism, though it's handled in a way that generates maximum intrigue and drama with its extremity. Instead, it's almost like a thought experiment: what does it take to be creative, or even fulfill one's promise?

The heart of the storytelling is the dynamic that emerges between Brandy and the nameless producer. As the producer bullies and manipulates Brandy, often brazenly, she fights back in a fiery, rebellious way, refusing to give in to the producer's demands. Actors Canaan Reese and Skylan Kimbrell don't often share the same physical space, but they are highly responsive and intriguingly connected.

That connection is dysfunctional at first. But as the pair hit a stalemate, both begin to spiral into a more introspective way, taking the narrative into a quieter, more intriguing direction. Both have to confront their dashed expectations about why they do what they do, as well as their sense of failure and falling short. Brandy, especially, must contend with what it means to put her voice out there, but also the fears that have held her back from doing it and what drove her to make a deal with the devil to begin with. Now, without any distractions, she must face herself, even as the producer himself faces what his job has cost him.

THE SESSION ends with a sense of personal realization for Brandy, one that finally unleashes the song inside her. But the conclusion also throws in a new twist and wrinkle into the story, an added element that touches on how far someone or something will go to make a hit song. It happens so quickly that it could seem confusing or unbelievable, but its tenor fits into the film's overall heightened sense of drama and narrative framing. It begins with a jolt and ends in shock and awe, with two characters lost in the larger design of it all.