By Andrew Buckner

Rating: ****1/2 out of *****.

Death Waits for No Man (2017) is riveting in concept and execution. Additionally, writer-director Armin Siljkovic’s debut feature is an unpredictable, taut, stylish and endlessly intense thriller. Clocking in at a lean 77 minutes, the slow-burn picture is effective and efficient. Though the work is essentially a three-person tale, audience care and understanding is equally distributed among our leads. Such is a courtesy of the way Siljkovic slyly makes these individuals look like protagonists and antagonists of the venture. This is at differing moments throughout the effort.

The plot itself is a masterclass in storytelling. Siljkovic commences the affair on a deceptively simple note. It concerns a woman, Lily (in a layered and commanding portrayal from Angelique Pretorius), asking a man, Uzal (in an excellent enactment from Bradley Snedeker), to kill her husband, Sinclair (in a gripping depiction from Corey Rieger). To say anymore would be to give away the sheer delight of watching Siljkovic build on this idea. This is with one credible, ever-darkening twist after another. Best of all, the tale ends just as well as the rest of the largely one-room movie deserves.

This is a courtesy of Siljkovic’s sharply honed contributions to the project. His authorship of the material is every bit as skillful and harrowing as his general guidance of the endeavor. Siljkovic’s characters are initially enigmatic. This works to further erect bystander intrigue in the early passages. When the exercise concludes, the on-screen personalities arise as suitably developed. Such an attribute is even more evidence of how well Siljkovic handles the material.

Furthermore, Joseph ‘Sloe’ Slawinski offers brooding, hypnotic and emotionally resonant music. Ted Hayash’s cinematography is moody and immersive. Isabel Mandujano’s costume design is superb. The make-up and sound fare just as magnificently. The result of all these afore-mentioned components is a full-throttle masterpiece; an absolute bulls-eye.

Death Waits For no Man is scheduled for release in fall of 2017.