Vague Visages’ Liquor Bank review contains minor spoilers. Marcellus Cox’s 2025 short film features Antwone Barnes as Eddie and Sean Alexander James as Baker. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

The 2025 short film Liquor Bank is a fine example of economical indie filmmaking. Presumably based in Los Angeles, just like writer-director Marcellus Cox’s outstanding 2023 feature debut Mickey Hardaway, the 15-minute two-hander stars Antwone Barnes as Eddie — a U.S. Marine who wakes up hungover after missing his one-year sobriety anniversary — and Sean Alexander James as the protagonist’s concerned sponsor, Baker. Liquor Bank demonstrates the filmmaker’s potential with all its technical brilliance, though some of the dialogue and expositional moments once again feel too on-the-nose.

For example, Liquor Bank opens with Eddie waking up next to a beer bottle on his pillow. To further accentuate the obvious, Cox also places another bottle on a nearby beer stand. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, due to the short film premise and the need to efficiently deliver information to the audience, though viewers can grasp the general idea through a good performance instead of props. And Barnes does indeed display strong acting chops from beginning to end, always making sure to underscore Eddie’s self-hatred and somewhat combative personality. Once again, though, Cox guides the audience along with a standard mirror reflection shot — an easy way to underscore a moment of self-pity — rather than letting viewers connect the dots on their own. But even if these expositional scenes might feel like too much, they highlight Cox’s experience as a storyteller and filmmaker, as the director gets straight to the point with accessible dialogue and themes before shifting to a more artistic approach when Baker confronts Eddie about his behavior.

Liquor Bank Review: Related — Review: Vivian Kerr’s ‘Scrap’

In just 15 minutes, and with only two characters and one setting, Cox makes Liquor Bank feel cinematic and BIG. James L. Gilmore Jr.’s editing is especially smooth and poetic, while Fabian J. Tehrani’s cinematography stands out during a stunning confrontation sequence, in which Eddie grabs a knife and approaches Baker. On top of that, a sweeping score sets in during the most appropriate moments and then fades away. One could argue that the sound design adds a bit too much melodrama, but it works for me given how the music complements the character movements, whether it’s Eddie contemplating a suicide attempt or Baker thinking about his next words of advice. Performance-wise, both leads shine with their interpretations of Cox’s script and humanist outlook, most notably in how they punctuate lines with their movements and facial expressions. As Eddie processes Baker’s words, he scathingly looks him up and down, just like a buzzed-up bar patron who’s looking for any reason to rumble. In fact, Cox’s core themes about the human condition parallel those of his previous film, the aforementioned Mickey Hardaway. And he also replaces Chekhov’s Gun with… well, I guess you could call it Chekhov’s Knife.

Liquor Bank Review: Related — ‘Blonde’ Review: A Dostoevskian Innocent Challenges the Hollywood Machine

It’s exciting to imagine what Cox could accomplish with a fully-funded feature. His technically-sharp films, at least the two I’ve seen, shift between gritty realism and tender moments of reflection, just like the best Michael Mann flicks set in Los Angeles, such as Heat (1995) and Collateral (2004). Plus, there’s never a purely awkward filmmaking or acting moment — you know, the kind that typically devalue low-budget (or no-budget) productions, because the directors simply don’t have enough experience and/or don’t understand demographics between New York City and Los Angeles. And so Cox separates himself from the crowd with his storytelling perspective and technical execution. In his work, there’s a powerful thematic contrast between danger, hope and redemption, and also a sense of community. With Liquor Bank, Cox works efficiently with his main cast and crew, though he’ll presumably reach the next level of filmmaking by incorporating more character detail through dialogue, instead of doubling down on the core ideas for the sake of audience clarity.

Liquor Bank is currently screening on the festival circuit.

Liquor Bank Review: Related — Weird Worlds: The Short Films of Ari Aster

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.