Dan Sloan's ‘Good Behaviour’ is a short film triumph

Jack Michael Taylor
May 5
2 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

This gritty, atmospheric and tense short emerges as a contemporary cinematic triumph.

Sal (Antonio Aakeel) and John (Stephen Walters). | Credit - Dan Sloan, 2025

Dan Sloan’s 2025 short ‘Good Behaviour’ explores the semantic domain of memory and guilt, prompting the viewer to question, ‘how much guilt is enough?’ The film brings forth a visceral and gut-wrenching depiction of psychological trauma, flawlessly encapsulating both a cycle of self-destruction and the fraught road to rehabilitation.

Set within a bleak prison environment and characterised by a muted colour palette, ‘Good Behaviour’ follows Sal (Antonio Aakeel), who is two years into a sentence for manslaughter resulting from the accidental killing of a family friend and local businessman, Mehul. The burden of guilt and shame precipitates Sal’s psychological deterioration, ultimately fostering a self-perpetuating cycle of self-destructive behaviour. After a series of violent outbursts during Sal’s sentence and the continuation of self-harm tendencies, Sal attacks his cellmate John (Stephen Walters). Amidst the breakdown, this signals the introduction of psychologist Dr Richard Stanmore (Paul McGann), who persuades a hesitant Sal to undergo experimental memory-alteration therapy, arguing that it is Sal’s memories that underpin his behaviour. Through this, Sal is forced to face his memories and replay these in absurd and almost comical ways.

Sal (Antonio Aakeel). | Credit - Dan Sloan, 2025

The film foregrounds Sal’s relationship with guilt and remorse; through rapid editing and carefully constructed cinematography, his breakdown is rendered as a form of voyeuristic spectacle that reflects and exploits the viewer’s internal turmoil. Despite a melancholic and tense atmosphere, Sloan crafts a striking and gut-wrenching portrayal of psychological warfare.

Cinematically, the film adopts a raw and realist aesthetic that immerses the viewer in the action. Through a varied use of camera angles and muted lighting, contrasted with highly saturated memory sequences, it constructs a visual allegory of contrition and engages the audience to reflect on the justice system of today and how it feels for inmates to be isolated from a society they once had a place in.

This dark and atmospheric short perfectly depicts a compelling cinematic exploration of the extremities of human emotion.