SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED (2014)
Tagline: None.
(Comedy, Drama, Imaginary Friends) [Short]
Note: This short was featured on DUST which is a sci-fi shorts platform. This one really isn’t sci-fi, but I thought it was fun enough to include in my ATOMIC TUESDAY collection.
Did you read the one with Lord Meltface?
In this one, a young girl named Izzy has an imaginary friend named Ex. As she is getting older she is becoming interested in other things and Ex must start accepting that he may no longer be needed.
This is a 15-minute short that covers the topic of adolescence and moving on from childish things. Only the twist here is that it’s the imaginary friends that are doing the coping. The story is told via lighthearted dialog and some really fun scenes that include throwing stars made out of bread and more than one imaginary friend along the way. Director Kate Tsang uses some upbeat music, whimsical settings, and a creative flare to convey this wonderful tale. Which to be honest is refreshing because a lot of these short films on DUST and other sci-fi platforms end in some dystopian nightmare sequence seemingly designed to scare their viewers for life all while sucking out their brains. The film is shot entirely in black and white giving it a bit of a nostalgic feel that only adds to the charm here.
Acting wise we get Madeleine Conner as Izzy and from what I can tell, this was her only appearance in a movie. She does a really good job in this. Cindy Cheung plays Izzy’s mom Julia. Cheung isn’t just some rando*, she has starred in over 60 productions and been involved in TV shows and movies ranging from “Blue Bloods” to “One Life to Live”. Luke Matheny voices Bearbear and was also the producer of the show “Ghostwriter”.
The imaginary friends in this film are largely featured as people in costumes, but we do get some animation and they even made a short film within the film to explain the perils of an imaginary friend growing attached. The simplistic approach still packs a lot into this 15-minute timeframe with expert-level quick shots and cuts to show up a lot in very small snippets of time. Overall this might be one of my favorite shorts that DUST has ever featured and it was also on season 3 of “Film School Shorts”.
There isn’t a ton of dialog, but the awkward adolescent banter between Izzy and her neighbor is touching with dashes of innocence rarely found in modern film (even when they are trying). I really loved this one, I highly recommend checking it out.
SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED gets a solid 7 out of 7. You read that right. It’s outstanding and honestly, it should be a lesson in what you can pack in a short amount of time delivering a complete story with several elements that engage the audience.
*=random person
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF KATE TSANG AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Comments
Post a Comment