a poignant bedtime story

short of the day 006

Sidekick

YouTube channel

duration: 15 min 1 sec, released: October 28th, 2016

Short Effectiveness = 100% in its execution!

-

a case for the short:

+ Positives +

minimalist storytelling by relying on the visuals to tell the story instead of full of exposition

(the long awkward silence after the outburst in the car, the long hold of the shot on the action figure)

~

smart writing to use the convention of a generic children superhero tale to represent the real struggle in the father's life and the manifestation of the darkness that's the sickness in him threatening to swallow him whole and leave the family without a father but not without building up the importance of the 'sidekick' or rather the kid to be strong for the mother despite the impending bad news

~

professionally shot and produced complete with slow motion superhero shots and engaging hand to hand combat and action sequences with effective emotional beats at the heart of it all.

? Main contention ?

never revealing the true nature of the father's condition is the right decision to make since it's how it affecting the family instead of how it's going to affect his mortality, focusing on the father's reaction and how he's going to break the news to his son.

- Negatives -

the cuts could be better and sharper with noticeable over elongated scene for example ... but it's just me nitpicking, the overall short is solid and could stand on its own proudly.

- Synopsis -

A struggling father tells his son a bedtime story to convey an important life lesson.

(Genre - Action, Drama, Short, Superhero)

- IMDb [8.4] -

Lesson Learned:

If you can't bring yourself to tell someone a bad news, go down to their level to soften it up a bit.