Wish you were here

Oof. Ever lost a loved one? Yeah it bloody hurts and this effort conveyed that with immense gravity as two tightly knit sisters came to terms with having lost both of their parents in a tragic accident. Nice little touches like calling her sibling 'little bean' and it meaning something showed a good awareness for building character development, and the escapist but minimalist BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA fantasy pulled the wool over the audience' eyes very nicely when the required wish came into play. The audio could have done with some work here as some of the dialogue was hard to discern but very much appreciate going for the jugular with mature themes and a serious tone. That enormous puddle might have been the biggest I saw in the Wellington heats!

Phenomenal performance from the young lead made up for some technical missteps such as the soundless montage scene. Great use of framing such as the cups shot to Show that the adults were completely out of sync with the main girl despite their dialogue which suggested otherwise. A rare case of a young team tackling a tricky theme such as grief and nailing it in a mature way with some creative flourishes. Rough around the edges but lots of promise here. Great stuff y’all.

This young team has tackled the difficult topic of grief and losing parents, a brave subject for a film. Jeanie makes a wish and for some magical moments her parents return. We discover at the end of the film all is not as it seems. This film had some sound issues, and the storyline could have been a bit clearer towards the end, but in general a bold, brave film.