Rat Poison (2020)

Alesja Suzdaltseva's short film talks about how difficult it is to say goodbye to a place full of memories.

Erik (Karel Käos) and Meeri (Maria Teresa Kalmet) are at a local village shop and buy rat poison. Erik meets Joseph, the shopkeeper, who tells him that Erik's grandmother used to bring them trouble because she insisted on not selling fly paper and complained about selling too stiff rat poison. Erik does not believe that her grandmother cared that much about animals until Joseph mentions her belief in rebirth. Erik buys a packet of cookies in addition to the poison.
Erik and Meeri reach the country house, where Meeri takes additional pictures for the broker and Erik goes into the houseto poison the rats. Erik cannot open the poison so he heads to the cupboard to find a knife when. There he finds a cup with her grandmother's name and a rat's picture. Erik opens the poison pack, but as he scratches it, he hears a counter-rumble from the corner: Erik and the rat form an unspoken dialogue in which Erik realizes that grandmother and the rat may have had a stronger bond than he thought. Erik leaves the house. He did not poison the rats, but instead left them cookies.

Keywords: farewell | country house | nostalgia | rats | taassünd | grandmother | sister-brother relationship | View all »