Name:Nkandin Ishmael

Index Number:BFAMP28039

Lazy Susan: A Clever Spin on Laziness and Invention

DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY TERRI TIMELY

 

Lazy Susan, directed by Terri Timely, is a delightful short film that blends comedy, cultural satire, and visual creativity into a compact and entertaining package. In just under eight minutes, it manages to tell a quirky and heartwarming story that flips a common stereotype laziness into a source of unexpected brilliance.

From the very beginning, the film hooks the viewer with its mock-documentary style and offbeat humor. It introduces us to Susan, a young Chinese-American woman whose laziness has made her the black sheep of her ambitious family. While her sister Annie excels at everything and wins her parents’ approval, Susan spends most of her time lounging, napping, or avoiding work altogether. Yet the story cleverly shifts perspective as we begin to see Susan’s “laziness” as a kind of genius in disguise. When the family’s restaurant is threatened by a fire and chaos ensues, it’s Susan who saves the day not through effort, but through her invention of the now-famous Lazy Susan table.

The film’s central message is clear: what society views as weakness or laziness can sometimes be a hidden strength. In this case, Susan’s desire to avoid movement leads her to innovate something practical, efficient, and timeless. There’s a surprising twist in how the film reimagines the origin of a household object, giving it a personal and culturally rooted backstory.

The characters are cartoonish yet surprisingly grounded. Susan stands out as a memorable lead funny, relatable, and subversively clever. Her sister Annie plays the perfect foil: driven, high-achieving, and constantly frustrated by Susan’s lack of ambition. The dynamic between them feels

authentic and adds emotional depth to the comedy. While the characters are exaggerated for effect, the performances especially by Monica Hong (Susan) and Julia Morizawa (Annie) bring them to life with warmth and sharp comedic timing.

Visually, Lazy Susan shines. The cinematography is clean and precise, with creative use of spinning imagery to reinforce its theme. Everything in Susan’s world seems to rotate from chairs to plates to the Lazy Susan itself turning the film into a visual pun. The colors are rich and nostalgic, with a warm palette that evokes a sense of family and tradition. Lighting and framing are carefully chosen to enhance the humor and emphasize Susan’s inertia often showing her sprawled in dramatic contrast to her energetic family.

Sound and music are equally well-handled. The score is light and playful, enhancing the comedic tone without overwhelming the scenes. Sound effects, like the whirr of spinning objects or the clatter of dropped chopsticks, are timed perfectly to punch up the laughs. Dialogue is clear and snappy, keeping the pace brisk and the jokes tight.

Overall, Lazy Susan exceeds expectations. It’s more than just a funny short it’s smart, well-crafted, and thematically rich. Its greatest strength lies in its ability to tell a complete and meaningful story in such a short runtime. If it has a weakness, it’s only that you might wish there were more of it a deeper look into Susan’s world or a longer resolution between the sisters. Still, it leaves a strong impression. The message that creativity can come from unlikely places, and that being different isn’t necessarily bad lingers well after the credits roll.

In the end, Lazy Susan is both a clever comedy and a subtle celebration of individuality. It’s a short film that doesn’t just entertain it redefines what we think of as “lazy,” giving it a new spin altogether.