Gotcha is an Australian comedy short from 1991 (loosely based on the short story The Lock-Out by children's author Colin Thiele) about a boy named Marco who delights in playing pranks on people. He faces no consequences for his actions until one night when he gets a taste of his own medicine.
The film has hardly any dialogue and relies mainly on sight gags. It can be seen here
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Not to be confused with the 1985 American film of (almost) the same name starring Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino.
This short provides examples of:
- Cranky Neighbor: Mrs. Brown can't stand Marco and calls the police to complain about the noisy party next door. She calls them again to report a prowler and the officer on the other line is clearly tired of hearing from her.
- Didn't Think This Through: Instead of continuing to hide in the bushes, Marco risks getting caught by pretending to be a statue. Sure enough, Mrs. Brown realizes what is going on and calls the cops on him.
- Foreshadowing: An early scene establishes that Mrs. Brown's house is being painted and she has naked statues in her garden, both of which come into play later on.
- Humiliation Conga: Marco gets locked out of his house, loses his towel, gets covered in paint and is laughed at by at least a dozen people.
- Imagine Spot: Marco imagines that the people he pranked at the beginning of the film are laughing at him along with everyone else.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Marco goes out of way to humiliate people so it's only fair that he gets humiliated in a very public way with him being seen by over a dozen people while naked.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Largely averted apart from one brief shot where Marco's penis is visible for a split second before being covered by Censor Shadow.
- Modesty Towel: Marco wears one when he goes outside to turn the water back on. He loses it thanks to some sprinklers.
- Naked First Impression: The police officers and party goers have most likely never met Marco before so their first impression is of him naked.
- Naked People Are Funny: The second half of the film relies heavily on this trope.
- Naked People Trapped Outside: This happens to Marco due to his sister Maria, a gust of wind that closes the front door and some well-timed sprinklers.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: After Marco gets white paint poured on him, he tries to fool Mrs. Brown by blending in with the naked statues in her garden. It doesn't work.
- No Ending: The short ends with Marco naked on the roof of his house while the entire neighborhood laughs at his misfortune. We don't see him get back in the house or find out if his parents punish him in any way but we can assume he learns a lesson.
- The Prankster: Marco is this towards almost everyone he meets (with the exception of the pretty checkout girl whom he likely has a crush on).
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Maria turns off the water while Marco is taking a shower as revenge for the pranks he's played on her. She probably didn't intend for him to get locked out of the house naked but her actions nevertheless result in Marco receiving his comeuppance.
