I have certain days where I may be in the mood for something whimsical or funny, or something that will unfortunately give me nightmares. Then there are the days where I just genuinely want to witness a “human experience”. As soon as I pressed play on this film, I was thrusted into Omar’s life.

The plot starts moving at once when we see the lead receive a life changing text from his girlfriend. He finds himself in a sticky position and must find his way out.

The thing I love about this is we have all been in a position in some form where we feel hopeless, and we take extreme measures to take care of our responsibilities. This made me root for the protagonist right from the start.

Let’s talk cinematography, shall we? This director and director of photography made a noticeable, intentional choice of unsteady movement in his shots. It was executed wonderfully! This made me feel the unsteadiness in the main character’s emotional life. I originally saw this technique used in “Moonlight” by Barry Jenkins. As the characters made any movements the camera followed close behind. This made me feel like I was a part of the experience, and I was in the character’s skin as they faced the world.

The main actor, Ogden Buck, who portrayed Omar, made me feel as though I knew him. His performance seemed like it came from a place of truth or experience. Something else that added to this realism-based piece was the super realistic sounding script. There are many exchanges between the main character and the inhabitants of his world, that sound raw and real. This worked immensely well in bringing me in to the story. There is a specific scene where he chats with his mother, and it was so genuine that it sounded like perfectly-executed improvisation. That is exactly what you are shooting for as a performer!

Something else that makes this piece strong is the present themes. It touches on PTSD, Societal Pressures, Justice System, Prejudice, Abuse. It tackles some key issues in such a brief time; but masterfully.

I also love the way they brought two storylines together of the protagonist and the antagonist. The two collide head on facing the internal prejudices they have by projecting them on one another. Powerful stuff! That is always a fun thing to watch, when you see two worlds collide in a seamless way. I walked away from this piece feeling seen, heard, and emotionally-invested.