Not in My Beans (2012)

notinmybeansI was kind of off put by the opening of director Grayson Whitehurst’s experimental thriller entitled “Not in My Beans,” but sticking with it really did pay off well. At only a little near five minutes long, “Not in My Beans” has a unique and very entertaining premise that’s dark, creepy, and surreal.

“Not in My Beans” begins like a fifties sitcom with a young character with a beanie is subject to torture by his big brother who puts his left over food on his beloved beans, causing him to spout his catchphrase “Not in my beans!” Angered, he storms off in to his room and chips a hole in his wall that indicates something darker and larger is behind some dry wall. Director Whitehurst obviously has a very limited budget as well as limited scenery and does a great job with some interesting editing and a concept that’s existential in its own ways.

What if a character intended to do nothing but act accordingly found out that they were just creations of someone else? What then? Director Whitehurst makes this journey in to this unknown realm kind of a shock to the system, as the character comes to a startling realization and then before he can do much of anything, is whisked away. The implications that the characters of this world occasionally wise up is clever, and I enjoyed how most of this was simplistic, yet very morbid and demented nonetheless. “Not in My Beans” is a very good short thriller and Whitehurst pulls off a bare bones but creative narrative.