Published in: BAFTA Qualifying Films

Oscar & BAFTA Qualifying Short Film Review “Wednesday’s Child”

Author OneFilmFan

Published on: November 14, 2022

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

First, the Recap:

To possess unmitigated certitude in oneself should never be seen as a bad thing. There’s a decided difference between the conclusive confidence we have in our abilities to handle a task placed before us as opposed to being arrogant, the latter of which would only breed our downfall. When striding into a newly acquired position of employment, for example, where we’ve been educated and otherwise prepared to do the work we’re aiming to accomplish, nothing feels better ahead of time than knowing “I’ve GOT this!” is reverberating through our very being. It is this demeanor that fills social worker Maire (Caroline Harvey) with an authoritative level of calmness and joy on her first day of work with a fellow worker Annie (Charleigh Bailey). However, upon arriving at the home of Dympna (Fionna Hewitt-Twamley), the client they are to check in with on this particular day, Marie soon understands that reality is most assuredly not so grand or gleaming.

Next, my Mind:

There isn’t always a happy ending or rosy outlooks on scene when actuality gives us a cold, hard punch in the gut, potentially and forcefully absconding with the positiveness, poise, and conviction we might have had going into an unknown situation that takes a definitively evident turn south, which is precisely the occurrence that unfolds in this Oscar and BAFTA qualifying Irish short film from director Laura O’Shea, writer Caroline Harvey, and the producing/acting duo of Caroline Harvey and Charleigh Bailey. As I might have stated randomly in previously published reviews, sometimes it is this more drastic, gripping, yet fully credible portrait of life that we need to be reminded of, not for the sake of then feeling like there’s nothing GOOD happening, but more that it’s best to be able to simply acknowledge that things don’t always work out, even when we may enter the circumstances with the best of intentions, even perhaps with viable solutions, but it still may not be enough.

The narrative we’re a party to here addresses this with a vivid, unfaltering intentionality as we view a wholly positive but new-on-the-job social worker who encounters a radical wake-up call thanks to her very first home visit that shakes her to the core, the film’s highly abbreviated 10-minute runtime has NO time to waste in setting up said scenario, smacking us square in the face with it, and driving home the messages it carries with emphatic and compelling strength and purpose. Therefore, this critic states it again, that’s EXACTLY what happens, and it is so deftly effective in its execution while presenting thematic forays into poverty, desperation, perceived (and REAL) societal and governmental apathy, teen motherhood, child safety, verbal and physical violence, attempted empathy to connect with fractured mindsets, and the overall emotional toll it takes on everyone involved, in this case the family in dire straits AND the social workers who are there to assess and, ideally, HELP.

I feel this film is perfectly necessary in its objectives, as not only are all the issues above ones that need more awareness and the subsequent attention that should garner, but hopefully it will also become a wide-reaching catalyst for more people to be convinced to aid in the resolutions yet to be discovered or enforce the ones that are to more impactful results that we might see an END to so many of these facets of life that are tearing far too many people apart. By this film’s deeply convincing finale, it actually cements this notion into our minds, lingering as it should and, at least for this critic, makes us realize that despite the pensive, dispirited atmosphere being conveyed, this project IS a vehicle for POSITIVE transformation and I firmly believe to ENCOURAGE us as people to GET INVOLVED with actions and organizations that aim to IMPROVE situations like we see depicted, granted sometimes having to make the tough calls where things could get worse before they get better, but still, that’s what it can take to ultimately gain breakthroughs.

Harvey brings an engaging performance to bear through her role as Marie, a freshly “minted” social worker whose about to embark on her very first assignment, filled with all the humbly self-assured bravado and anticipation that speaks to the heart of someone who’s wishing to see lives touched and ideally transfigured through her efforts. Even as her mentor/partner plays along with this attitude, it only takes the pair arriving at their destination for the morning that quickly shines a candidly revealing light on the realities awaiting Marie in this line of work, and the situation devolved into jarring moments of extremes that rattle every ounce of overall compassion and confidence she went in with. Watching as Marie scrambles to adapt and diffuse a high-tension situation is very well acted by Harvey, making the character’s plausibility and tangible emotional highs and lows accessible and relatable, even more so in the aftermath of events when the character questions everything they’re doing. An excellent and grounded performance.

I would say the same for Bailey via her role as Annie, Marie’s more seasoned social worker partner whose task it is to take Marie out for her first run at the profession they’ve both chosen. Given Annie’s familiarity with the home they’re about to visit, she at minimum has a better initial understanding of the atmosphere they’re heading into, but also doesn’t completely anticipate how explosively unnerving everything is about to become. Even as the beginning intensity gets calmed, things escalate from slow-burn to full-out in short order, with Annie and Marie having to step into the midst of a possibly disastrous moment while Annie has to make a rough call that impacts Marie heavily while we see Annie is, sadly, more accustomed to things turning out like they do. As with Harvey, Bailey puts forth a totally credible and energetic performance that brings the appropriate amount of depth and realism to the character and scenario she finds herself in.

The two primary supporting roles arrive first through Hewitt-Twamley as Dympna, the single mother Marie and Annie are tasked with checking in on and assessing for the sake of both her teenage daughter and the little baby girl who’s innocently and involuntarily thrust into the path of a woman at the end of her sanity, buried in hopelessness, mistrust, and utter desolation of soul due to her impoverished condition and the on-again-off-again love and anger at her daughter’s grandchild. It’s a volatile air that Dympna exudes, and Hewitt-Twamley navigates us through the regretful and fiery aspects of the character’s personality with affecting, acute, impassioned energy. The second turn comes through Lauren Kinsella as Dympna’s teenage daughter Geraldine, whom we quickly see has major disconnection and angered disinterest in Marie or Annie’s assistance, even though Marie strives to see if she can connect with her through her baby girl. Geraldine’s manner softens a bit, but still remains distrusting until the proceedings blow up to scary levels.

It’s in that instance of sudden vehement unpredictability that stirs Geraldine’s openness to getting the help protecting her child at all costs. It’s a quietly understated performance that carries the right amount of fervency when needed to sell us on the character, a tribute to Kinsella’s acting here.  So, in total, “Wednesday’s Child” serves as both an awareness-raising effort as well as a cautionary tale when it comes to how we not only see others, but ourselves as well when it comes to trying to understand what we THINK we know and are confident in vs. what the TRUTH of a situation is that we might NOT be ready to contend with once encountering it. Additionally, it very astutely illustrates how what we SEE on the SURFACE in someone does not often REMOTELY paint the picture of what’s really going on underneath. We must continue to make efforts to help our fellow human beings in whatever capacity we can, that’s a fact. But, we also must embrace that, in certain cases, JUST being there for someone isn’t always going to be enough.

As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!