Short Film Review “To Fly or Float” A commonality of baseline premises bursts forth with uncommon, and much required, emotional punch and cathartic authority
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First, the Recap:
The aching pain of sadness. Do we not wish, under normal circumstances, to ideally face each day with a smile on our faces? To have the simple joy of being alive, being able to function, to do our jobs, go to school, always learning, trying to embrace all that we can? But, we also very well know that life doesn’t always carry a happy countenance. And when those situations arise that break our very being and outlook on things, can we discover the means to pick ourselves up and move on?
For a young girl named Eva (Talia Sokal) and her uncle, David (Ben Caplan), it is within this realm of anguish that they both tread, crushed by a recent loss that has especially caused Eva’s young, vibrant demeanor to be drastically dimmed. While it is understandable why, Eva’s ability to mourn yet also try to push ahead has also been diminished. But, when a young boy, Sam (Charlie Bishop) offers up an idea to assuage her pain, it opens up a new road that will still be hard, but also deeply meaningful and necessary.
Next, my Mind:
It’s a funny thing about British-made film and TV as well. For me, it almost always “hits” with a quality, freshness, and unique stylistic approach to the stories they tell that wins me over a large majority of the time. As character and story-driven focus is what indie cinema does best to begin with, add in the aforementioned attributes, and I wholly anticipate a top notch effort that will have impact, relatability, and life lessons for us to contemplate afterwards. True to form, the British have come again, this time via director Charlotte Peters, writer/producer Olivia Maiden, producer Benjamin Till, plus executive producers Kefi Chadwick, Michael Etherton, and Judy Ironside, delivering a heartening but rawly affecting portrait of grief’s cold grasp, compassion’s warm grace, and inner release’s undeniable balm, all through the eyes of two opposite sides of the age spectrum, with a resolve that leaves the soul moved and tears flowing.
At least that is the effect this 16-minute short film whose narrative sees the inward and outward emotive turbulence experienced by a young girl reeling from tragedy, the relative who has taken her in but is just as shaken, and a newly formed bond born of youthful hope and positivity that leads to all involved being changed forever. Honestly, in itself, it isn’t brand new ground being journeyed on here. Even more candidly, far from it. Explorations of loss, grief, coping, and the search for the ways to get beyond it are legion. HOWEVER, it therefore comes down to precisely HOW the filmmaker chooses TO address these foundational themes that can either cause things to fall flat, be too overtly melodramatic, or in this case, punch you square in the core of your consciousness, making you truly, and with compelling force, assess the very nature of what it is to know loss, the associated turmoil within it elicits, and the beauty of finding liberation even in the midst of it.
As such, the thematic scope of the film, emphasizing the inward desolation a crippling loss manifests, the means to handle it not always evident or immediately accepted, the realization that mourning is perfectly normal, but allowing it to utterly control our perspectives can be equally damaging as well, illustrating a willingness to take others’ assistance, embracing the idea of hope, the importance of familial connection, and the wonder of symbolic yet powerful instances that can break though the darkness and give us that road to healing all get their time to shine on screen. It’s a film that doesn’t at all shirk away from portraying the realities of heartache, even depressive states, nor does it invalidate the lingering struggles it all brings about. BUT, it is also just as bold to challenge us to FIGHT through, to SEE the verity in letting go, to allow memories to remain potently cherished while knowing that we CAN strive to return to better places and mindsets.
The film’s third act, leading to an absolutely, amazingly well-constructed finale, cements the film’s narrative, its purpose, and the emotional wellspring that’s been building throughout the runtime with persuasive impact and a lasting reminder to all of us that acknowledging “life does move on” during loss is NOT some cliché or dissolution of what we are confronting. And there’s this underlying thematic point that I felt ends up being offered as well, seen in the context of what has transpired….the sheer magnificence of BELIEF. You’ll understand after watching. Sokal is a pure source of light and such maturity of emotive control and presence through her role as Eva, a young girl being tossed and turned inside by an actuality she doesn’t yet fully want to shoulder. With change of living space added to the mix, the conspicuous downturn and weight of it all is more than noticeable, and deeply heartbreaking.
But, when a newfound friendship and the fantastical idea that comes with it sparks even the smallest flame of hope, the journey takes on a life that will still be both formidable and inspired. Another young actor who honestly just drew me in with unequivocally muted but fervent energy, Sokal dominates the screen with an understated strength that simply demands attention here. With a shared amount of similar execution and calm but still passionate vigor, Caplan also makes a definitive impression through his role as David, Eva’s uncle with whom she now lives in the wake of a devastating loss that has taken its toll on them both. Yet, his grander recognition and adoption of what has happened becomes the path he tries to walk when it comes to Eva, whom he only wants to see come out of the inner desolation she is immersed in.
However, when she brings him the idea she’s considering to do so finally, will he believe in it, or have a fear that it is only fostering further distress? The lessons David will also learn are tangibly addressed from that point onwards, and Caplan deftly navigates the volatility of the character’s own state of being with a poise and believability that not only sells you on his performance, but makes you empathize with David’s place in the narrative even more, and with affecting spirit. Bishop rounds out the primary characters here, and ALSO does so with a magnitude of endearing credibility, sense of necessary, abiding innocence, and fantastic demeanor that becomes the real trigger point of transformative encouragement and motivation through his role as Sam, a local boy whom befriends Eva and has the purest desire to not just help her, but also sincerely comprehend and even share in the pain being carried.
Coming up with a concept to help her more positively forge ahead in her grief, Sam’s cheerful demeanor and drive to make the idea he had come to life for her brings Eva to the start of a better place, and is also what allows her to push through possible resistance she initially receives from David. Even as Sam is present for when the creation takes flight (quite literally), the moments that occur in the aftermath strike him just as much as they do Eva, and how Bishop guides the character here is quite magical, engaging, charming, and most assuredly REAL. A credit to young talent. Additional appearances are made by Rebecca Van Klinken, Jonny Sokal, Yoav Oved, Amy Baker, Eleanor Bass, Marwa Fazli, Max Bloom, Lola Chigwedere, Florence Georgina Carson, Inez Davies, John Creamer, Kathryn Creamer, Arion-Reis Robinsons Walters, Christine Darby, Emma Fox, Dawn Halton, Helena Headley, Lep Headley-Read, Emmaline Higgs, Hester Higgs, Isaac Simon Higgs, and Peter Rice.
So, in total, “To Fly or Float” takes on the paradigm of despair via well (and previously) established cornerstone angles, but then adeptly discovers the means to make it immaculately stirring, candidly influential, and conclusively, relevantly significant, depicting a way through our melancholy and persisting hopelessness in the consequence of harsh emotional impairment that paints a sobering and invigorating portrait of making it through and arriving on the other side with growing certainty and promise.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
