Poor Dan!

As played by Lewis Pullman, Dan seems like a decent enough guy.  He’s a little bit on the dorky side and he seems to be kind of shy.  He’s one of those people who you always see kind of shuffling along with head down.  When he speaks, it’s in such a soft voice that it can be a struggle to hear him.  He’s insecure and anxious and really, it’s understandable once you see what he has to live with.

The thing you have to understand about Dan is that he wakes up every morning and has to deal with the voice of his anxiety (played by Mat Wright), a loud and obnoxious bully who follows him everywhere that he goes and who constantly tells him that everything he’s doing is wrong.  Dan can’t even have a friendly conversation with his co-worker, Julia (Trian Long Smith), without the voice taunting him and telling him that he’s useless.  The voice is everything that Dan is not.  The voice is loud and flashy and obnoxious and totally unconcerned with any feelings that he may hurt.  The voice is every moment of anxiety that anyone in the world has ever felt.  He’s every insecure thought and lingering regret.  He’s ….

Well, there’s actually a bit more to the voice but I’m not going to spoil this short film but revealing all of its secrets.  About halfway through this film’s 13-minute running time, there’s a huge twist and I can’t reveal the details.  I will say that it’s a very clever little twist and it’s one that will take you by surprise.

The Voice In Your Head is a well-directed comedy about anxiety.  Lewis Pullman is sympathetic as Dan while Mat Wright is brilliantly obnoxious in the role of the Voice.  I don’t personally know the director, Graham Parkes, so I won’t speculate on what may or may not have inspired this film but, just from watching, he seems to be someone who not only understands anxiety but who also understands a good deal about human nature.  The things that cause us the greatest anxiety often appear totally different once we actually confront them and that’s something that this film certainly understands.

It’s on Prime, at least through May 6th.  So, be sure to check it out.