The Sea Is All I Know
Starring: Melissa Leo, Peter Gerety, Kelly Hutchinson
Director: Jordan Bayne
Rating: 5/5
When estranged couple, Sara [Leo] and Sonny [Gerety], come to the aid of their dying daughter, the experience sends them spiraling into spiritual crisis and brutal heartbreak.
In the end, an act of selfless love, renews their lives, transcends their loss of faith, even death itself.
The Sea Is All I Know tackles a whole host of issue such as love, faith, death and family and many filmmakers would struggle bringing all those threads together in a feature film but director Jordan Bayne has done just that in less than thirty minutes.
And that is what is so superb about this movie it has layers and depth and the characterisation of a feature film - I can't wait to see Bayne move into that area of film because she promises so much with this short.
Melissa Leo is superb in the film as a mother desperate to help her dying daughter but is torn between what is asked of her and her faith.
She brings a wide range of emotions to the role from grief to a bitter anger - once again showing what a fine, and underrated, actress she really is.
Peter Gerety is also superb as he, along with Leo, create a very real relationship at the centre of this movie.
The storyline may be painful and heart-wrenching and yet Bayne has delivered it in such a beautiful and tender way.
Yes the movie does tackle a very tricky subject matter, that of assisted suicide, but it is handled in a very subtle and delicate manner.
The movie doesn't just focus in on this it is more about the relationships between the three central characters as well as their acceptance, of struggle, with what is about to happen to Angelina.
The Sea Is All I Know is a very emotional and yet tender movie that poses plenty of questions of it's audience.
It is a little gem of a movie that really does show off Jordan Bayne as a great script writer but also a fine craftswoman when it comes to weaving together storylines and character layers - I can't wait to see her future work.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw