NOSTRADAMUS first came onto my radar when I saw that the director, Thomas Ikimi, has created a Kickstarter campaign to fund the film earlier this year. Having seen the director's feature length film, LEGACY, on Netflix a few years prior, I was impressed enough to want to chip in to help fund his little passion project and get myself an early screening of the film. I am not sure what the film's final budget was, but the campaign raised $16k, and if that makes up the whole of the film's budget then the production managed to stretch that into a short film that looks and feels far larger in scope. NOSTRADAMUS is largely dialog-driven, with impressive performances by Austin Nichols, Joe Holt, and, who I feel had the stand out performance, Amy Sloan. The film has some genuinely tense moments, and whatever location scout found that diner deserves a bonus.
The film does suffer from a few hiccups, though. There were a couple of editing choices that felt awkward, though not to any degree you wouldn't find in a weekly drama. The score was overbearing at times and reminded me the JURASSIC PARK "Incident in Isla Nublar" arrangement – in some scenes silence would have been golden. And finally, after dwelling on it for a bit, I felt that because of the circumstances the lead character is thrown into, the final choice he has to make was far too easy for him; it did not seem as sacrificial as I think the filmmakers intended.
All in all, despite a few gripes, NOSTRODAMUS is a fun little thriller worthy of your time.
