I saw this short film on the directors website after viewing a feature he had previously made. I really wish I had seen in on a big screen. It's a scary, powerful, and shaking film about the choice of living or dying and how that may alter when one is chosen but later realized it may not have been the best choice. To reveal the ending would be a disservice to the beauty of this film and take away from the power it grips you with throughout. In Howard's feature, Reality of Life, I spoke about how he was a little too wordy with his dialog and how I had hoped it would be a stepping stone to bigger films. This is a much shorter film, by 1/6 of the run time, but is a much bigger film in many ways. Howard went the opposite with this film and dialog is pretty non-existent save for an opening shot of a young woman speaking that echoes in the young mans head throughout the film. And that's it. The rest is music and expression. At a run time of almost 20 minutes, that seems like a boring description of a film but Howard is so captivating and the idea of this film is so original, that you don't even notice how long it goes on for. You are in it. And it's a hard thing to be in: Howard shows an absolutely terrifying scene involving suicide and the way it unfolds is extraordinary. Whether the young man succeeds in his suicide is to be seen in the film. Whether it matters or not is another question all together: this film is about the journey he takes during it. The moments leading up to the scene are intense and jump ten-fold when the suicide progresses and the young man suddenly realizes he has something to live for after all. The horror of the moment is huge when you really don't know if it's past the point of no return for this young man who has made the biggest mistake he may ever make. We feel for him. We root for him. And we think of life in a way we may never have thought of before. And that has to be Howard's point. The chosen Beethoven song is haunting as it plays in it's entirety and the other score is beautiful and compliments the film perfectly. I never imagined a short film could do so much to emotions in such a short amount of time. I highly suggest it to everyone though I will warn you that it is disturbing: however its not graphic and is handled in a very creative, original way. It's powerful in a way that films should be and when the credits finally role, you expel the breath you've been holding and simply think "wow."
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews