The Screen Test is a chaotic relic of old-school slapstick

Is it worth your time?

If you like old, noisy short films where people fall over for no reason, sure. If you hate theatrical acting that feels like it’s being projected to the back row of a stadium, skip it.

There is this specific energy in The Screen Test that just feels like a frantic fever dream. Buster West and Tom Patricola are clearly Vaudeville guys, and they treat the camera like it’s a heckler they need to win over by jumping around.

The whole prizefight setup is honestly the highlight, mostly because of how flimsy the logic is. Tom decides to make Buster a star by letting him get beaten up in a ring, which is a logic leap I can kind of respect.

Odd moments and observations

• The way they move—it’s like their joints are made of rubber bands.
• The producer’s office looks like it was decorated by someone who had never actually seen a real office, just heard a rumor about one.
• The sound quality has that classic “recorded in a tin can” charm.
• I spent most of the runtime wondering why the star of the melodrama even bothered firing them.

There’s a moment where they are trying to prove they can act, and it’s just painfully loud. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in A Lady's Tailor, where the pacing feels like it’s trying to beat a deadline.

It’s not a deep movie. It doesn't want to be. It’s just two guys doing their act until the credits roll. Sometimes that’s enough, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

Watching this made me think about how much film has changed. We don't get these weird, theatrical short-form experiments anymore. Everything has to be a slick, 30-second TikTok now. I kind of miss the awkwardness of it all.

Also, don't look for a plot resolution. It just sort of stops. Like they ran out of film or lunch was ready. It’s messy, but it’s definitely not boring.