Director: Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe
Screenplay by: Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe
Starring: Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe, Virginia Newcomb and Jessie Barr
Country: USA
Running Time: 93 min
Year: 2021
BBFC Certificate: 18
In 2016, up and coming actor-director Jim Cummings’ life would change when his short film Thunder Road won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. After his success at Sundance, he’d go on to kickstart a feature-length adaptation of his Thunder Road short which he starred in, directed, wrote, edited, composed and created visual effects for which doubled its $200,000 budget and was well received by critics. For his second feature, he teamed up with Orion Classics for the comedy-horror film The Wolf of Snow Hollow and during production, began kickstarting his third feature with frequent collaborator and friend PJ McCabe, The Beta Test.
After receiving a purple envelope with an invitation to a no questions asked sexual encounter at a hotel, talent agent and engaged man Jordan Hines’ life begins to crumble before his eyes. It’s a premise that feels familiar, but Cummings and co-director PJ McCabe take the concept and develop a fascinating character study which Cummings is tailor made for. Part American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, part Vampire’s Kiss’ Peter Loew, Jordan is a character that has deep impulses hiding under the surface and even though you’re never made to root or care for him, you’re still compelled to see where this rabbit hole takes him.
The Beta Test is full of intrigue and allure, with gorgeous cinematography by Kenneth Wales, in his debut, that turns what could have been a run-of-the-mill thriller into a steamy, giallo-inspired ride that lures you in just like the envelope that lands in our protagonist’s hands. A dash of Black Mirror and a sprinkle of Eyes Wide Shut, The Beta Test wears its influences on its sleeve but still comes away as a compelling and satisfying ride that’s enjoyable to experience. The performances are solid all around but it’s Jim Cummings who you’re here for, and he brings us yet another excellent, layered performance. The film is hilarious when it needs to be, satirically poking fun at Hollywood while still delivering on the thrills and unsettling visuals that you’re here for. I’ve always been a fan of tech-thrillers and seeing Cummings tackle that genre was exciting, fun and seedy in all of the ways you’d expect from a film of this nature. Seeing how one action can influence and change an individual’s life, especially in the day and age of information being so public is engaging and feels all too real.
Arrow Video picking up this film makes me really hopeful that more eyes will be on Jim’s work now, because ever since checking out Thunder Road back in 2019, he’s a filmmaker I’ve always kept my eyes on as his projects never disappoint. Watching the bonus features and learning how all of the post-production occurred during the COVID lockdown in 2020 was fascinating and really highlights how even with the limitations they were presented with, Cummings and McCabe pushed on through and created one of the year’s biggest surprises. The Beta Test is yet another solid entry into the filmography of Jim Cummings as well as first-time director PJ McCabe and has me excited to see what the duo end up working on next.
Film: 
The Beta Test will be released by Arrow Video on May 8th on Limited Edition Blu-ray. I wasn’t given access to the booklet included so I can’t comment on that, but the transfers across the board were all solid, maintaining healthy bitrates throughout the feature and bonus content. The 5.1 audio track sounded great on my end and as always, Arrow has included optional English SDH. Overall, it’s a solid presentation with no visible crushed blacks or compression issues.
2-Disc Limited Edition Contents
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
- Original lossless 5.1 audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Exclusive bonus disc of short films
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Anton Bitel
- Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options and Limited Edition slipcover
Disc 1 – Feature & Extras
- Audio commentary by directors Jim Cummings & PJ McCabe
- Sex, Lies & Purple Envelopes, a visual essay by author and film scholar Alexandra Heller Nicholas
- Trapped. Hiding. Boom, a visual essay by author and critic Guy Adams
- The Making of The Beta Test
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
Disc 2 – Short Films(Limited Edition Exclusive)
- A two and a half hour collection of short films from the Sundance Award-winning filmmakers behind The Beta Test including: Cory Comes to Christmas, Parent Teacher, The Stop, Marty Loves Katie, Native Stand Up, The Robbery and Us Funny
- Also includes a look behind the scenes and two hilarious short ‘documentaries’ about attending the Sundance Film Festival in 2016 and 2017
On disc one, we’re treated to an audio commentary by directors Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe which is both informative and hilarious. Although they state its their first commentary track, the pair are always recounting interesting experiences during production and the influences for the film. Hearing Cummings describe how they wanted the opening to feel like a classic Italian giallo film made perfect sense, and it’s a solid commentary track overall.
Sex, Lies and Purple Envelopes is an interesting video essay from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, offering her perspective on the themes of the film, her analysis of the characters and as usual with her work, it’s engaging throughout.
Trapped. Hiding. Boom. is a video essay from Guy Adams, that mainly focuses on hotels in horror cinema, the Bates Motel from Psycho and the Overlook Hotel from The Shining being two of note. It’s a funny, entertaining video essay that I’d recommend.
The Making of The Beta Test is a solid 20 minute documentary directed by Jim Cummings going through his career up to the point of directing The Beta Test and detailing the production of the film. I really found the post-production segment fascinating, seeing how Cummings and co. adapted to the lockdown in 2020 and finished their film. Watching Jim create kissing sounds with his elbow for a scene in the movie is worth the viewing alone.
Also included are a handful of trailers and a photo gallery. On the second disc, we’re treated to over two and a half hours of short films from Cummings and The Beta Test team, and this was probably my favourite aspect of the release. First up is The Minutes Collection, a series of six short films created for the anthology film Minutes, all of them focusing on 10-20 groundbreaking minutes of an individual’s life, all filmed in one unbroken take. It’s a really impressive collection of shorts, with Cummings directing all but one, which he has a starring role in.
Parent Teacher opens the collection up and like many of the shorts to follow, is incredibly anxiety inducing in its first half. With an excellent lead performance from Dustin Hahn and some great commentary on the US education system, this is a great way to start the collection. Other shorts include Cory Comes to Christmas, which was an entertaining family get-together that felt reminiscent of 2020’s Shiva Baby. The Stop might be the most technically impressive of the bunch, employing really great visual effects throughout the short, which follows three people under the influence of drugs who get pulled over by a police officer. Marty <3 Katy continues to deliver the anxiety as the manager of a restaurant has to deal with unruly customers before filling in for somebody at an adaptation of Shakesphere’s King Lear. Native Stand Up is probably my favourite of the bunch, giving us the best performance here from Tatanka Means and the discussion on the treatment of Native Americans in the US was eye-opening and definitely left the strongest impression. The Robbery closes us off, which I found to be the weakest of the bunch, but it’s still an entertaining final short in the Minutes collection. Also included is a brief, four minute making-of that was an informative watch. I do wish it was a tad longer and more in-depth, but I’m glad it was included in the first place.
Us Funny is a short from Jim Cummings that’s utterly heartbreaking, it follows a man who reminisces on the time spent with his girlfriend before she passes and if you needed evidence that Jim Cummings is a phenomenal actor, then Us Funny is mandatory viewing. It’s my favourite short on this second disc.
And finally, two “documentaries” about The Beta Test team attending Sundance Film Festival in 2016 and 2017 cap off the bonus disc and they’re amazing. Part genuine attendance of the festival, part mockumentary where Cummings plays a drug-addicted maniac, they’re absolutely hilarious viewings that I couldn’t recommend enough. They’re extremely silly but had me laughing throughout and my only complaint was that we didn’t get a 2018 one for the release of Thunder Road’s feature.
Arrow Video’s release of The Beta Test is packed to the brim with an array of extra content that’ll keep you busy for hours after viewing the film. I really enjoyed the feature and all of the extras that accompanied it and I’d easily recommend this release to fans of Jim Cummings or people intrigued by the premise of the film.
Disc/Package:
