Gridlock, aka Fait D'Hiver, is a 2001 short film (very short, seven minutes) from Belgium directed by Dirk Belien.
A man named Tim is stuck in traffic on the highway after work. He pulls out his brand-new cell phone (this being 2001, it's a flip phone with a little antenna) and calls home. His little daughter picks up the and when asked, tells her father that mommy is upstairs with Uncle Wim.
The problem? The family has no Uncle Wim.
Tropes:
- Black Comedy: Ends in violent farce as both the mother and Uncle Wim die, both apparently by accident, followed by Tim realizing he dialed the wrong number.
- Blood from the Mouth: From the woman as she lies dead on the floor of the bath, indicating that she is in fact dead.
- Death by Falling Over: Apparently how the woman died, slipping and falling in the bathroom.
- Dies Wide Open: The woman after falling down in the bathroom, showing that she is dead.
- Fan Disservice: The woman running naked in terror out of the bedroom after the little girl tells her that Daddy's home.
- Foreshadowing: Notice that the phone is brand new out of the package and Tim has to type the number in. Also, he doesn't address the little girl by name.
- Snow Means Death: The snow falling sets a foreboding mood, one that is reinforced at the end when Uncle Wim dives out a window to his death when he hits the frozen swimming pool.
- Twist Ending: When the little girl tells Tim that Uncle Wim went plunging out the window and fell down and died on the swimming pool. Tim has no swimming pool. He realizes that he called the wrong number.
