Short Film Review “Bridge” Reconciliation, reconnection, healing, and refreshed possibilities
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:
First, the Recap:
Chasms. What do you envision when hearing that word? Would it elicit images of looking over the rim of the Grand Canyon? Or, perhaps, what it would be like in the ocean if one could easily find themselves staring into the abyss of the Mariana Trench. Great, spanning, swallowing, sometimes dark depths. Yet, can we not as human beings also possess chasms within ourselves? When we experience those elements in life that cause us to be weighed down, burdened, does it not feel like we are indeed encountering our own seemingly endless voids inside?
Hospital receptionist Bridget (Gemma Barnett) goes about her days under the veil of somewhat mundane normalcy. Looking at the world around her, she takes it all in with an almost haunted demeanor even while blindly engaging with the wearisome busyness of her job that accompanies a lonely, troubled heart. However, when a phone call she answers puts her in touch with a distraught woman named Kirsty (Bianca Beckles-Rose), it begins an unexpected journey that could end up changing both of their lives.
Next, my Mind:
There is no doubt that our holding on to that which still vexes us remains a commonality we would ideally prefer not to dwell in or on. Yet, even in the suffering that it ushers forth in our minds, soul, and attitudes, appearing to forever be a part of us, there are those catalysts that can shake us up, open the door to solace, and maybe create new opportunities that surprise us. This is the aura this critic felt in heartening and challenging ways through the 16-minute short film from director Tara Aghdashloo, writer Gemma Barnett, producers Nina Georgieff and Cat White, executive producer Emma Blacklay-Piech, plus associate producer Anais Ferrato. Filled with a magnitude of humanness that relays succinct but formidably influential messages addressing longing, loss, ghosts of the past, unanticipated encounters, and the balm of newfound hope, it’s a radiant example of indie film’s grounded nature and willingness to make us THINK after watching.
Centered on a young woman whose total sense of self and current realities around her have grown distant, even cold, who receives a phone call at work that will become a beautifully transformative experience and overt shift in her life perspective, the manner in which the film carries itself through the brisk but wholly engaging narrative is simply divine. Folks, this isn’t entertainment, and it honestly isn’t meant to be in my opinion, which I often find is the verity of independent filmmaking. It’s LIFE being portrayed on screen, that raw, unapologetic, fearless, tapestry of the fact that things don’t always go our way, with our subsequent choice in how to cope with it not serving us well. BUT, it does NOT preclude then confronting moments that CAN alter us, CAN free us from what torments us, CAN provide the first glimpses into things that will bring us back TO us.
We are supposed to be IMPACTED by what we take in as the viewer. To find those relatable instances that SPEAK to our own minds and hearts through the characters and narrative presented. This film does a magnificent job at accomplishing this IF you are OPEN to receive it. How the film chooses to tackle a core issue the lead character is facing is intelligently crafted so as to only give us hints at the start, but then flesh it out as events unfold. It is a highly effective means to draw us in, KEEP us there, and WANT to learn MORE in order to then be able to appreciate how things turn out. I am being purposefully vague here, as you need to watch the film to take in its nuances and the revelations the story delivers. Equally smart employment of flashback aids in this process, very astutely connecting you with Bridget’s actualities while so deeply empathizing with both her and Kirsty’s character once that bond gets initiated between the two.
The finale was stirring in its conjecture-driven urgency and joy, leaving your thoughts to cascade forth in wondering what magic and release for the characters could be emerging. Thematic forays that cover facets already mentioned above, as well as exploring how we need to get over our fears and hesitations, be persuadable (within reason, of course) through the words of others that is working for our benefit, the desperate need to find closure and new beginnings, establishing genuinely caring relationships, seeing others’ examples of lasting love, comprehending our own emotional state of being and recognizing our related need for escape and liberation, and the priceless nature of memories, even if painful, and how we don’t have to JUST linger on what hurts, but instead recall all the good. For me, these were all tangents that are present in some form, and assuredly get acutely folded into the grander story with inescapable sway throughout.
A lot of this is SUBTLE in its overall execution, and THAT for me is the mark of a well-conceived film, illustrating how the strength and validity of an emotive narrative doesn’t have to be conspicuously demonstrative to excel in hitting you square in the heart. It’s the wonder of seeing what the film’s title indicates as it’s applied to two unsettled lives brought together. Barnett provides one of those performances that is filled with fire and energy that deliberately boils beneath the surface, adding to both the mystery and vulnerability her character possesses thanks to this understated delivery as conveyed through the actress’ role here as Bridget. A young woman evidently in the throes of something which pulls within her, causing her to just push through every day in the same routine and muted disposition, Bridget gets a phone call at work which prompts her to open up and be available to someone else in a distressed state.
Finding every way she can to accommodate the situation, it ends up leading Bridget down a road she’s perhaps refused to truly embrace, accept, or address, with the outcome the beacon of belief and certainty she herself has so exceedingly needed. Again, the emotional gulf represented by Bridget’s slowly revealed strains is tangible and quietly intense, well played through Barnett’s performance. In a more blatant but still controlled manner, Beckles-Rose embodies the air of a woman also in pain, at first more so physically, but then evidently inwardly as well through her role her as Kirsty, the caller that ends up potentially claiming more than just Bridget’s attention. Only wanting to speak to a physician about her symptoms but having had NO luck in reaching someone due to the hospital’s overworked operations status, Kirsty’s reluctance to speak with Bridget gets overwhelmed by the sincerely empathetic dynamic Bridget brings about.
Softening as the conversation moved forward, a series of unforeseen ties the two could have in common arises, taking their discourse in entirely new directions whose ripple effect could be cathartic for them both. It’s a more prominently impassioned viewpoint to things that Beckles-Rose gives through her performance, but it is also ultimately tempered with that same level of eventual softness in tone that serves the circumstances here well. The primary supporting turn is made here by Sam Landon as Oli, a figure of eminent importance to Bridget’s story, both in adoration and struggle. Other key supporting roles come from Pauline Tomlin as Dee, Bridget’s receptionist area co-worker and friend, Kerry Frater, Phoenix Nowicki, Patricia Jones, and Alexander James Simon, along with appearances by Charlie Atkins, Vicky Peirson, Mahshad Afshar, Lason Ash-Thomas, Stephen Buranyi, and Beth Collins.
So, in total, “Bridge” deftly traverses through the seas of our battles with tedium, heartache, inward isolation, the pain we cling to, and having closed ourselves off from the world to then expose the occurrences that can manifest which emancipate us and allow all around us to be renewed. Living comes with the hurts and uncertainties that it does, the presumably bottomless pits those things come off as. When help arrives, may we be brave enough to venture to the edge, but then gaze up ahead instead of down, and see the bridge that’s there for us that asks only one thing….cross over.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
