For no particular reason, I find myself very interested in what is apparently Kiefer Sutherland’s next project to escape into the wider world, The Confession, a 10-episode web series about an assassin. Much like the Mortal Kombat series that we covered earlier in the day, the series will be a web-only program made up of short (5-7 minute) videos hosted on Hulu that tells a linear story.

Using a relatively low budget, the shorts were shot during the New York blizzard last month across nine days, and features high-quality photography and a twisty story about an assassin discussing the morality of his profession with a priest interrupted by action-heavy flashbacks. The priest is played by John Hurt, and I surely hope the “helluva twist” they mention isn’t that the priest is actually the target and gets wacked at the conclusion. I know as much about the show’s story as you do at this point so that is an outright guess, and if it’s correct- fuck that spoiler. If the show manages to be more interesting then that (and I hope that it is) then we might have an easily consumed, pretty piece of drama come March, when the shorts are released.

Sutherland described the process that led to the production of the series-

“I know so little about the internet, but that’s what a lot of friends do for work. Most of that stuff being produced for the internet is comedy, very much like Jackass kind of material, which is great but didn’t appeal to me…”

“A drama in five-minute episodes! It was one of those things, like a puzzle over the course of the lunch. It can’t be that complicated to figure out a story in five minutes, right? I couldn’t, and it frustrated the crap out of me. So I went home that night, still thinking about it, and it stayed with me for three days. I was falling asleep when I literally got this idea of a confessional.”

Sutherland also makes sure to mention his intent to make the 24 film, and despite the recent setbacks he still sees it starting up by year’s end. I can begrudge him his desire to cap off the character he portrayed for so long, especially when he’s at least staying involved in interesting projects like this web series, and with challenging film projects like Von Trier’s next.

It’s going to be an interesting year watching some of these higher-profile web shows test the waters- I’m eager to see the response now that a wider range of modestly-budgeted projects are coming to light with recognizable faces and brands.

DISCUSS THIS on the CHUD Message Board

Source | Entertainment Weekly