A flight attendant finds herself in danger but at the right moment, gets a chance to get even in this slow-burn but brutal short film from German director Christian Koch.

Arriving from a red eye flight to her home airport, Melanie is ready to just go home and relax. She calls her friend as she is on her way to the parking garage but feels something’s off. When she gets to her car, she meets a mysterious woman who needs help getting to her car. Melanie offers a ride to her car. However, Melanie notices the woman isn’t who she says she is. She is able to escape the mysterious woman but when she returns home, something else is in store for her.

From writer-director Christian Koch, this German-language short film starts out with a very slow burn. The focus is on our protagonist Melanie, played by Vivien König as she arrives late from her flight and seems to be the only one left at the airport. This entire first act revolves around Melanie as she calls her friend upon her arrival. It may seem a bit of a bore at first. However, we soon see the second act where this mystery woman shows up and asks for help. It is once she escapes, we get to the third act and this is when things ramp up from slow burn to sheer brutality. Of course, it is predictable on one side, but it is what Melanie does that gets extremely cringy but justified for her.

It is this third act that is not only cringeworthy because of the justified actions of Melanie, but before that, we get a serious antagonist in her neighbor Daniel, played by Mike Müller. When he reveals his intentions, he does it by telling Melanie (and the audience) in graphic detail what he plans to do to her. Then boom! The most shocking moment of the film happens and you’ll either scream or cheer for Melanie…or both!

Lips and Tips starts out slow, but this short film takes the cake in the third and final act and the cringe factor goes way up, and the results will make you both cheer and scream at the same time. It’s worth waiting for this third act.

WFG RATING: A-

A Triple Helix Cine Vision Films production. Director: Christian Koch. Producers: Maximillian Kraus and Christian Koch. Writer: Christian Koch.

Cast: Vivien König, Mike Müller.