Stomach It

The sound effects Klausner and his crew create in “Stomach It” do the lion’s share of the work in evoking a bodily reaction both from Joel’s character and the audience, who is made to feel like a voyeur throughout the story. We cringed and gagged alongside Joel as he utilized the tools of his trade to clean up vomit, blood, and the other miscellaneous viscera left behind. Klausner is efficacious in deciding what to leave to the imagination versus what to show us up close and personal to elicit the strongest reaction from his audience. The movie’s use of a particular cleaning fluid that fizzes and bubbles upon making contact with blood is used particularly effectively.

As a short film, the story is understandably slim on character backstory. And also offers a few explanations for what is behind the supernatural presence that seems to stalk Joel as he reluctantly attends to one final crime scene upon the urging of his boss. We are left to wonder whether what we see playing out on screen is truly occurring or the figment of a disturbed mind pushed too far by a job that defies his natural humanity. But Klausner is not ultimately interested in creating a story to be followed literally. “Stomach It” is a gory, tense, and dark exploration of how far the human mind can bend to clean up the messes our society leaves behind. We’re excited to see what Klausner tackles next. But we’ll be sure to bring our Tums along with us.