Plastic Surgery review

By Simon Thompson

Writer/director Guy Trevellyan’s Plastic Surgery is a sobering horror short, that manages to keep you on the edge of your seat and inform you about an issue that is facing our society at the same time. Despite how graphic the imagery becomes towards the end, Trevellyan is such a proficient technician that you still find yourself drawn to the visuals, unable to look away. 

Plastic Surgery follows its protagonist Dr Terra (Anna Popplewell), on her last day of work before she goes on maternity leave. The day begins seemingly like any other, until a patient with an unidentified foreign object trapped inside him is brought in for her to operate on. It turns out that the foreign object in question is a massive clump of microplastics and before Dr Terra can breathe, the ward starts seeing dozens and dozens of similarly affected patients. 

Trevellyan employs a mixture of claustrophobic camera angles to emphasise the confining nature of the surgery ward, and quick cuts to show the sheer chaos of the situation. A particular highlight of Trevellyan’s directing is the intro sequence of the first patient being brought in. Trevellyan’s close up on a trolley wheel, which makes the audience nervous about what is being obscured, juxtaposed with Dr Terra and a colleague having a mundane and pleasant conversation before the patient reaches the operating room creates a Hitchcockian effect. 

Anna Popplewell gives a strong performance as Dr Terra, convincingly portraying her as someone whose sense of equilibrium has been shattered by the events of the narrative. Through minimal dialogue Popplewell deftly conveys the sense of fear and stress that the character is experiencing, without turning her performance into a soap opera. Given how much of the short Popplewell has to carry as the lead, she doesn’t stumble for a single second. Also I thought she looked vaguely familiar, and then I realised that she was in those god awful mid 2000s Chronicles Of Narnia adaptations, and had no idea at all that she had continued to act past childhood. 

Overall, this is a first class short film/debut from Guy Trevellyan, who has cut his teeth working on various big budget film and streaming projects over the last few years. The precise and meticulous nature of his training is on screen for everyone to see, and with this short he has marked himself out as a director with a bright and promising future.