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First, the Recap:
The joy of the Christmas holiday. It is a time where family takes a moment to gather, celebrate, open gifts, and generally (one hopes, anyway!) find time to decompress from the craziness of a soon to be past year and just relish the beauty of what there is to be thankful for in the present as well as embracing fond recollection of things past and their meaningful impact on us. For one wife (Bailey Victoria) and her husband (Greg Brown), it is a reluctant instance that has arrived in having to put away all the decorations from the season, appreciatively noticing certain items that bring to mind warm memories. It is an evening that will bring smiles to the pair and make this Christmas one to treasure, even fully cherish–right?
Next, my Mind
As the years have gone by and indie cinema became the major overall niche of filmmaking that I unexpectedly, but now with more than consistent, unanticipated joy, immersed myself within (actually, IT approached me, not the other way around, mind you), the genre contained therein known as short film was truly one of the greatest revelations to experience as part of a community of artists whose raw passion for the craft of creating film shines brightly and with such full, wholehearted, genuine intent. It also becomes the spawning ground for a plethora of brand new filmmakers looking to make their presence known, and this is the case here thanks to a six and a half minute effort from director/executive producer/cinematographer Sean Cranston and DEBUT writer/producer Bailey Victoria. It’s a serious, and scary, leap of faith, and one that, for this critic, pays off here.
Ultimately acting as more of a proof of concept project in my opinion, the narrative delivered here still provides a nicely formulated, completely realized, foundational premise centered on a married couple whose evening of taking down the Christmas decorations sparks a flurry of fond reminiscing tied to certain ornaments or objects they come across as they work. It would seem to be the feel-good, remind us of what’s important, adore the value of what life has blessed us with kind of tale that is so deeply needed in this time of world strife. Yet, suffice it to say, indie filmmakers excel at defying convention or ideally anything TOO obvious, and by the time this film’s abbreviated runtime is entering its finale, a clever twist in events leaves the viewer at least slightly surprised and also wondering what else might be waiting in the wings should this material possible find some feature film treatment in the future.
It’s what I love about short film in that so much can be conveyed in very little amounts of time, and for a story to elicit both warm and potentially unsettling atmospheres effectively and plausibly in such a compressed timeframe, I personally applaud that. It is a testament not just to Cranston’s directing and cinematography here, but to the rich and warrants-further-exploration concepts floating around inside the head of newly introduced writer/producer Victoria, whom I do honestly hope gets future opportunity to expand on the idea presented here. The film relies on straightforward black and white visuals, which harkens back to that “classic movie” styling and tone while still maintaining a contemporary sensibility and relevancy to the primary genre thematically the project is going for. It’s a simplistic overall execution, yes, and perhaps not even that “demanding” to create, but it’s what’s at the heart of the material and the purposeful objectives behind it all that sticks out as far more important to recognize, acknowledge, and give credit to.
Victoria very much leans on a realistic, grounded approach to playing the character of the wife, a woman experiencing the somewhat melancholy pangs of having to watch a beloved and highly appreciated holiday come to a close as she and her husband begin taking down the season’s decorations. Yet, as the evening progresses, their circumstances become slightly more complicated, and she finds herself with more questions than answers–and confronted with something far more eerily enigmatic. It’s an accessible performance throughout and Victoria makes the most of it. Likewise, Brown presents a believable, no-sweat performance as the husband, a man who clearly loves his wife and desires her happiness, trying to be the voice of both comfort and reason as they look to move forward from the holidays. It’s actually left to conjecture what his own experience with the events unfolding are, and that works well for the film’s goals here. A supporting appearance is made by Lauren Baker.
So, in total, “Holiday Spirit” is an indie short film debut for Victoria that stands well enough on its own, fostering the necessary ambience and aura to draw out the hoped-for reactions from viewers, while offering a glimpse into what is, what could be, and what we will wait for when it comes to this newly initiated writer/producer’s ongoing work that will, ideally, only grow more and more adept and engaging. As they say, time will tell, and that is never a bad thing when it comes to the short film category and contributions such as this one.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
