WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:
First, the Recap:
We exist within our norms. At least, that’s what we strive to achieve each and every day. Whatever our personal circumstances are, even when things might not be completely on the up and up, we seek “shelter” within the daily tasks we set ourselves to be about. While this may seem to be the “answer” to either avoid or not quite deal with those aspects of life that are unsettled, how often is it proven just how wrong we are when something else arises that unequivocally disrupts it all?
At a small university, the campus’ caretaker (Kris Hitchen) goes about his routines like anyone else. Evidently astute at his chosen profession, it appears equally conspicuous that matters at home are not exactly optimal when it comes to the current relationship with his son (George Osborne). However, when an initial student call during an evening prompts him to end up not only resolving that issue but subsequently discovering another far more disturbing, it sets him on a path of reassessment and an even bigger desire to heal that which has been torn for too long.
Next, my Mind:
What we should or should not accept responsibility for, the burden and benefit of family, the rifts which require mending, plus the ugly specter, upheaval, and awakening effect a severely tragic choice about life can have get explored with deep degrees of impactful, compelling, and consummately engaging force through this 25-minute short film from director/producer/executive producer Harry Richards, writer/executive producer Rufus Love, producer Liam Wallace-Cook, and associate producer Danny Rumbelow. Given the foundational subject matter that forms the catalyst here, it is yet another film this critic must place in the categories of “needed” and “awareness-raising”, efforts that this world should take heed of, and never encounter weariness in hearing about the topic, because people are IN desperate need of COMPASSION and HELP before it’s too late, much less in how it jars us and makes us THINK about our own lives and those within it all.
With a preface that there is a disclaimer at the start of the film addressing what subject matter we’re talking about, and while you might be able to already guess it by conjecture, I am still choosing to remain mum about mentioning it directly as I still feel how the film chooses to create the experience of it maintains its best “punch” by watching the film. The narrative focused on a university’s caretaker and the events that lead to a soul-shaking revelation and potent reminder of a highly personal reconciliation that now must occur with even more haste is carried forth with a beautifully crafted, intelligently written, and eerily unnerving atmosphere that drives home every bit of the project’s purpose with the aforementioned unquestionable relatability and believability. As it should, for this is the core heartbeat of indie cinema in any of its stylings, character and story-driven excellence.
Now, what gives this film the intensity that it does is also masterfully delivered through the actual understated manner in which the narrative unfolds, as one COULD argue it’s a slow burn approach we get. This would be accurate, but again, slow burn is NOT a BAD thing, folks. The magnitude of weight we are provided here is more than enough to keep your attention and cause very legitimate empathy towards both the caretaker AND all the others who we see that are hit with the building, even if in differing ways, traumatic aftermath of loss depicted. Through the combination of smartly executed visuals (straightforward and some surrealistic), the accompanying music score, and the complete credibility of the characters, it leaves you plenty of room for post-credit contemplations, as again it SHOULD, while pressing into the poignancy and significance the film’s finale brings about, once more with subtle yet profound meaning.
Shame and the haunting nature of it, unduly blaming ourselves, having to let go, being willing to recognize our own struggles much less those of people around us, the requisite need to be open to shifting our perspectives or put aside our perceived barriers in order to be consoled when vulnerable, and hence releasing our pain in order to be fully restored are all thematic tangents seen here. This is simply one of those HUMAN stories that is worthy of being witnessed so as to ideally initiate further realization we DO NEED TO BE PRESENT for one another AS people. Period. Otherwise, how will we EVER even have the CHANCE to reach anyone whose considerations about there being no hope anymore or no way out of hurt must only lead to an extreme choice. We have to WAKE UP, world, and BE human again. Is this an easy notion to entertain? Of course not. BUT, it is possible, plausible, and attainable. TOGETHER.
Hitchen, who comes off a supporting role in the absolute magnificence that was 2024’s theatrical release “Speak No Evil“, here gets to flex leading man muscles and do so with a deftly controlled sense of beleaguered yet purposeful, quietly simmering energy through his role as the caretaker, a man whose duties are necessary on the university campus he tends to yet also appears to be a source of somewhat mundane weariness as well. Adding to his daily tasks is a severed state of connection with his son, which he wished to correct, yet opportunity is elusive. After responding to a student’s call to investigate something in one of their dorms, the issue at hand turns into something altogether more alarming, stressful, and even frightening, the caretaker’s entire mental state falls into chaos, but might spur him to take more direct action to reunite with his son in more important ways than ever.
The manner in which Hitchen delivers this character’s mix of muted restlessness, committed accountability, suddenly fractured outlook on reality, breakdown, but then total surrender and determination to make things right from tragedy with encompassing conviction engenders your sympathy from the start. It’s a portrait of what lies beneath the surface coming out and having to be confronted, a candidly honest performance by this talented actor. Osborne, for the screen time he gets, likewise offers a very integral, composed, intentionally understated but still emotive presence through his turn as the caretaker’s son, a young man who we find doesn’t exactly have the best or at minimum most interactional/communicative relationship with his father. But, when events transpire that clearly shake the university’s campus to their core, a son’s concern and initially veiled urgency to have his father present comes about in a powerful manner.
It’s again such an exercise in subtle approach to a character, which befits the role Osborne is embodying here perfectly and is so wonderfully enacted here through his performance. Primary supporting roles arrive from Ashleigh-Mae Schoburgh-Crooks as the student who brings about an inquiry to the caretaker that eventually leads to his sticking discovery, plus Vanessa Bailey and Riaz Syed as the mother and father of a son whose fateful decision rocks their reality. Additional appearances are made by Grace Gallagher, Jass Beki, Kyle Jennings, Haydn Watts, Kiara Nicole Pillai, and Oliver Manley. So, in total, “Contact Hours” spans the divulgence of life’s precarious nature, how we so easily compartmentalize our emotional states, hiding from them rather than facing them, and the depth of seriousness that must be made real in dealing with the potential for or, more devastatingly, the fallout from something it’s imperative we find ways to prevent, while also being able to assuage the storms within ourselves and between those we cherish.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
