All Of Our Shadows

Written by: Ruth Beni |   Directed by: Ruth Beni / Daniel Greaves |  Genre: Drama

 Directed by Ruth Beni and Daniel Greaves, you can instantly tell this is no amateur short. It follows along with a teenage boy who has what appears to be anxiety problems. For him, a dark shadow monster can spring from nowhere and chase him. It’s a little freaky, but I think that was the point. When the teenager arrives at school, I really enjoyed the way the other students are handled. Faceless until they interact, and let me tell you, that adds another layer of creepy onto the film. There is also a segment that shows some doodle animation on a piece of lined paper. That was probably one of my favorite parts.

  This is a pretty good representation of what many teenagers often go through and feel portrayed in an easy-to-follow format for whoever watches this short film. All Of Our Shadows doesn’t shy away from some of the more dangerous aspects of teenage life and actually embraces them to tell the story. Fear and self-doubt take the stage as this film attempts to shine a light on some of these issues. And it’s all captured in an often spooky way that only animation, in my opinion, can accurately handle.

 The description of this film I received starts by saying something like All of us move among the shadows. This short film is an excellent representation of that statement that is backed up by experience, know-how, and a great script. This may be an indie animation, but it looks anything but cheap. The world is constantly changing, and this was a great piece to remind us, adults, that not everything has stayed the same. I feel that All Of Our Shadows deserves a four and a half star review and stand by it. Thank you for reading.

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