WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, The Recap:
Embittered emotion. When circumstances cause pain within the heart, mind, and spirit, the choice of letting it go or allowing it to bury itself within and fester emerges. The passage of time attempts to allow for a release from it, yet only then becomes a new wounding when having to confront the source which caused it to begin with. On a melancholy day after years apart, one young couple, Sienna (Katie Goldfinch) and Elliot (Johnny Sachon), find themselves in an unanticipated and strained reunion outside, and then in the confines of, Elliot’s home. While the reasons Sienna is even in town are addressed briefly, along with a realization other situations are likewise plaguing Elliot, the conversation turns readily hostile.
Filled with both evident and still only mildly veiled anger, frustration, disappointment, confusion, apathy, and jilted feelings towards each other from the past’s ugly realities, even the brief and somewhat forced moments of levity are filled with regret and pain. Sharing about what his life has been like since Sienna’s departure, Elliot’s demeanor continues to deteriorate, although quietly so, as the brutal, unembellished, but real truth comes flowing out in regard to his thoughts on her, friends, family, and his own state of affairs. Once through, Sienna’s own admissions about her current life is filled with many positive things, situations warranting happiness, yet the pair seems stuck in a state of internal chaos, with only a glimmer of true reconciliation coming through.
Next, my Mind:
Writer/director Mark J. Blackman’s 12-minute short film drama carries with it a truly weighty atmosphere that exudes both a stormy restlessness and a powerful though almost silent benevolence in telling the story of two fragile former lovers brought back together now having to face the ghosts and demons of their own past history as they navigate raw truths and the tissue of lies between them. Filmed in stark black and white which fully emphasizes the tension-filled aura being delivered here, the use of a 4:3 aspect ratio hones in on the character’s faces, hence illustrating the subtle but fully present tidal wave of emotions they experience, being that often what is said only touches the surface compared to what is not being voiced, but yet we know exists in and between them. Visual cues speak just as loud as the actual dialogue, plus a haunting music score by Simon Slater aids in creates a provocative tone and mood for events as well.
Sachon’s performance here is an excellent study in understated emotional turmoil with the character of Elliot, a man dealing with a harsh present reality only to then have the uninvited issue of confronting a painful past. The whole time, he wades through dispassion and indifference, then onto slowly unleashed honesty and frustrated release. Again, the rawness of it all is expertly played by Sachon. Likewise, the same can truly be accredited to Goldfinch as well in her role as Sienna, a woman whose new future awaits her, having had no initial plans to face her part of the former couple’s past, yet finds herself going to Elliot’s home despite faltering better judgement. Her own uninhibited notions about both him and her own life echoes with regret, sadness, compassion, and perhaps unvoiced hope that somehow, they both will move on. Goldfinch is affecting and impassioned through it all, the ultimate beacon of light in any form here.
In total, “Animus” very much lives up to its title and to both definitions displayed for the word during the film, which really puts a conclusive punch to the greater whole being viewed. It is human frailty and emotionally-charged, deeply internalized resolve wrapped in two people whose only real escape would be to experience what has become the most evasive element of all between them–closure.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
