A mentally unstable young man takes care of his grandfather while alienating everyone else in his life. “Pricks of Sensation,” directed by Alex Sulock, is a disturbing portrait of a downward spiral, a pitch black fever dream tracking a man on the verge of snapping. Tending to his ailing grandfather at home, he turns into a loose cannon when he hits the outside world. Unreliable at his job, and prone to fights at parties, Vick seems desperate to cross the line in whatever way he can. Setting a frantic tone and leaning into the bloody and grotesque, the film is an uncompromising DIY vision of toxicity and paranoia. It’s a bit of a shift from Sulock’s previous short, “Out of Focus,” which we featured in January, which locked into a more casual energy; both are self-assured snapshots of vulnerable youth. -KA. Director, editor, producer: Alex Sulock. Cast: Hank Austin, James Ball. DP: Irina Lazouski and Alex Sulock. Sound, AD: Chris Martinez. Gaff: Irina Lazouski. Score: David Motta. Sound Design: Veronica Hein. Title Animation: Izzy Perez. Animal Wrangler: Evan Gromen.

Out of Focus: https://www.nobudge.com/out-of-focus