WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
A construct of malevolence. We arise each day to face a world more and more in chaos. Wether culturally, socially, politically, even in spiritual matters, there is no denying that we are encountering growing polarization and anger towards our fellow man, something that needs to find correction and accompanying solutions that will reunite us a people. When we’ve been subject to direct confrontation with this degree of malice, the impact is severe, and the consequences resonate within to potentially crippling levels that become a detriment to our very existence. As with so many things that challenge us, can we discover the means to overcome? For high school senior Cameron (Nour Jude Assaf), this reality is all too present for him after being witness to a horrific act. As he attempts to cope, can his doting mother Julie (Kathleen Wilhoite) or best friend Diego (Alejandro De Anda) be able to see him through? Or will it be another catalyst Cameron didn’t see coming?
Next, my Mind:
Misguided perceptions drastically collide with newly ingrained, then ongoing, fears of simply being who you are in a radically changed world initiated by unimaginable tragedy through this fully impactful, uncompromisingly candid, and culturally necessary 26-minute indie short film from writer/director/producer/editor Kayvon Derak Shanian, producers Oscar Alvarez, Christopher Dodge, and Marlee Rodrigues (here as Marlee Roberts), co-producers Jocelyn Barraza and Jack Kaprielian, executive producer David Damian Figueroa, plus associate producer Julia Garcia that puts none-too-fine a point on the lasting, devastating aftermath of 9/11. What stands out firmly here to begin with IS the foundational fact that, even to this day, the relevancy of not just remembering what happened on that fateful morning but also the societal ramifications that followed and how it altered the landscape of underlying, then sadly borderline fanatical, racial/ethnic tensions in this country towards ANYONE of Arabic/Muslim background/heritage (which then expanded to other minorities as well) remains a reality we MUST find a way to rectify.
Captured through its narrative that sees the inner and outward emotional turmoil a teenage boy is encountering due to an even more jarring circumstance he was witness to who now must find the means to grapple with the demon continuously haunting him even as a deeply concerned but unconditionally supportive parent, a best friend, and someone totally new try to be the harbingers of crucially yearned for liberation and refreshed perspective, the film’s striking utilization of blunt force dramatic weight, equally relentless intent, and yet still-hopeful outcome all merge together to form core messages that are JUST as imperative NOW as they were back in the timeframe this story resides within. What additionally makes the execution here effective is the smartly employed use of flashbacks to fill in requisite elements as the narrative carries forward which only serve to place a more affecting degree of investment in the primary character’s plight, doing so to an extent that had this critic in tears under the sheer dominance of unflinching purpose and statement about humanity’s current absence of unity that STILL rears its ugly head in our present times.
A wealth of hard-hitting thematic explorations here fuel the aforementioned emotional strength the film from beginning to end, only increasing in intensity as the briskly-paced effort hurtles forth, encompassing the concepts of blind hatred, the division/polarization it manifests, racism, ethnic prejudices, attaching blame to the WHOLE, the highly detrimental ripple effect of fear mongering, the viewpoint of those in a minority attempting to combat and/or expose the ignorance of society for how they’re so quickly judged, ridiculed, and looked down upon, coping with paralyzing anxiety, likewise hoping to make others close to us truly understand WHY the apprehensions we face exist, teen awkwardness, and the overcoming of what’s been holding us down which in turn gives way to the freedom and release we’ve sought all get screen time throughout the narrative to maximum, compelling, and decidedly accessible significance. This is the kind of film that I hope has an awareness-raising magnitude of influence on viewers, because the lessons learned and ones that NEED to be put to better use for POSITIVE change should be born of this.
Assaf truly dominates the screen with a multifaceted dimension of aggressive energy, heartbreakingly poignant vulnerability, and a fully grounded credibility that does perfect justice to the character he brings to the screen via his performance as Cameron, a teenager forced to live through what no one should have to at any age, much less then find a measure of both acceptance and buried-but-now-surfacing actualities of deep-seated fears and overt defiance he wants to express and seek inner unfettering from. Despite the best efforts of his best friend and his concerned mother, the visions Cameron sees all around him get brought up again and again, hindering his every move to experience that desperately needed freedom, until a final series of events merge to potentially become that avenue to a better place. It’s such a keenly volatile subject matter being explored here, and one we STILL have to battle with today, and watching how Assaf navigates the character through this storm of hate, non-understanding, and path to redemption is honestly inspired and so compellingly persuasive.
Veteran actress Wilhoite likewise excels here through her primary supporting role as Cameron’s mother Julie, a woman who’s also been the victim of the devastating event that then took something else precious from her and her son’s lives, though her overall ability to move forward has perhaps been at least slightly less filled with the level of tumult that she’s now found her son dealing with. Trying, as a mother is always compelled to do, to be the voice of comfort, assurance, and ideally healing that Cameron requires, it is the revealing of just how deep his struggles actually are that becomes an eye-opener for Julie to have to comprehend from a new slant, and it could also be that necessary step to empathize with her son. It’s a treasure to see Wilhoite continue to exercise her acting talents on screen, and just like Assaf, it’s a wholly believable, impassioned performance she delivers throughout, which again speaks to the skills gained over a career that now encompasses 136+ projects to date.
The next key supporting turns arrive first from De Anda as Cameron’s best friend Diego, who has his own skirmishes with the existence of judgement and prejudice against minorities and having to reach that point of just admitting “it is the way it is” in order to remain proud of who he is and being such while combating the mindlessness of it all. Emily Gateley plays Jennifer, the girl Cameron has an infatuation with and whom will turn into the start of his journey towards conquering his longstanding apprehensions. Arash Mokhtar is Reza, Cameron’s father, an influence in his son’s life to greater proportions than is even immediately evident until further amounts of it are revealed in such dynamically emphatic ways. Danny Dolan is John, a man of twisted ideology whose part to play in Cameron’s life is nothing less than horridly shocking paired with being so deftly illuminating. Additional but still totally astute supporting turns are made by Michael Boose, Olga Aguilar, Michael Sullivan, Kevin M. Walsh, Shane Stirling, and Jerome Madson.
So, in total, “Living In Fear” inescapably embodies the sum of its primary and underlying themes with a deliberately forthright, unapologetically truthful, and one hundred percent indispensable, consciousness-piercing potency that SHOULD cause us as human beings to take account of who we are, our attitudes towards others, and then ideally to ensure that HOW we choose to treat our fellow man and woman gets altered for the betterment and CHANGE of not JUST us individually, but for this entire world we share.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
