Answer at Your Own Risk: Ten Past Two

What good ever comes from a phone call past 2 AM? Ten Past Two, the short film from filmmaker Gaurav Bhatt, turns that simple question into a waking nightmare, unraveling a tale where reality blurs, morality twists, and paranoia reigns supreme. It’s a psychological horror thriller that doesn’t just grip you but drags you into your subconscious.

At 2:10 AM, Parth (played with eerie charisma) answers a mysterious call. On the other end, an unseen voice takes control, manipulating him into a series of disturbing actions that push him toward a sinister choice: surrender completely or sacrifice someone else to escape. What unfolds is a suffocating fall into terror, where logic fractures and free will becomes a cruel illusion.

Bhatt makes this nightmare with an undeniable visual flair. The cinematography is hauntingly precise, using color and lens choices to enhance the film’s dreamlike, almost hypnotic quality. Every frame pulsates with tension, every shadow threatens something unseen, and the editing stitches together scenes so fluidly that distinguishing reality from delusion becomes nearly impossible. It’s a sensory experience as much as it is a narrative one, disorienting, immersive, and utterly chilling.

Yet, while Ten Past Two thrives on atmosphere, its storytelling occasionally stumbles. The pacing wavers, sometimes stretching its ambiguity a little too thin, leaving the viewer grasping for more clarity. But isn’t that the nature of fear itself? The unknown is always the most terrifying.

Beyond the horror, the film carries a deeper, almost philosophical weight. It forces us to ask: when cornered, do we submit, or do we become the very evil we fear? With its unsettling tone and technical prowess, Ten Past Two marks an impressive directorial debut that, with a tighter script, could transcend from mesmerizing to truly masterful. Gaurav Bhatt is a ''one man show'', and this is just the beginning.