This is ME
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Written by: Josh Pickup | Directed by: Josh Pickup | Genre: Drama , Short |
| Ally (Lily Walbeoffe) suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. Imagine a feeling perpetual fatigue making every little thing into a daunting task. Those first few minutes after you wake up, or that small amount of time when you’re ready to go to bed, and don’t feel like doing anything is how I had it explained to me. Now imagine being like that all the time. As Lily ponders how she’ll get through the day we’re informed she has a job interview lined up. And that she’s already missed one, due to her illness we’re led to believe. Ally’s father (Ben Gardner Gray) is himself, not sure what to do. He shifts his tactics from attempting to be motivating to sometimes a slight anger wrapped conversation. He simply doesn’t understand what Ally is going through, and mistakenly calls her condition being tired; something he quickly corrects for her benefit. Indeed, CFS is hard to understand by those not affected. It’s hard to empathize with a condition that you can’t see, and one easily written off as simply being tired. So here, we’re introduced to what is called the “spoon theory” as demonstrated excellently in one of the scenes. “Spoon theory” uses garden variety spoons as a measurement of energy needed to do something. One spoon for the easiest of tasks and more spoons added as the task gets more difficult. As Ally attempts to tackle her day and interview, from the “spoon” scene we see exactly when things are going to get hard. And things do. The acting in this short film is very good and very real. Ally’s father is having trouble understanding her illness, and Ally herself is frustrated and it all comes through loud and clear. There’s a disconnect, and the acting makes sure we know that. All of this is wrapped up with some great visuals and a smart script. I especially liked the ending scenes with the children and the plastic spoons. Josh Pickup accomplishes a lot for a film under 10 minutes and if anyone wants to get a better understanding of this illness, this would be a good place to start. This is Me is not so much a story with a major plot, but more like a demonstration with an attempt to explain. To shed some light on CFS and what it does, how it works. It’s a well written, well acted, and nicely paced film. Highly recommended, thanks for reading and I hope you check it out when you get the chance. With such a short length, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t. Find this title online |
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