'The Long Walk Home' Review
Venue: The Exchange
OUR VERDICT:
One of the difficulties of reviewing a short film comes from a desire to leave a little to the imagination.
Without offering a full synopsis, The Long Walk Home is about the unexpected return of a son, and whether or not there is a limit to familial love.
The film’s own synopsis is ‘a family birthday celebration is interrupted by the unexpected return of the errant eldest son, Will. Will's sister struggles to contain her fury at Will's arrival, but their father welcomes him with open arms. Once the birthday party is over and the guests have left, Will reveals why he has returned.’
There are striking scenes throughout the short that demonstrate the work is something of a diamond in the rough. The dance scene, for example, creates the dizzying effect of being in a close, loud club, with a quick camera and angle changes.
Similarly, the way the camera flickers to Claire’s, Emily Tucker’s, face, upon her brother (James Corrigan) Will’s arrival, makes you feel like one of the numbers of party guests at the birthday.
Family dynamics are always a goldmine, and The Long Walk Home is no different. The relationship between father (Mark Tucker), son, and daughter is deserving of a huge amount of analysis.
Personally, despite the fact that it is made clear that Will is the eldest child, the film felt to be a perfect opportunity to touch on First-Born Daughter Syndrome in Claire, particularly as the suggestion seems to be in later scenes that she lives with her father.
The actors themselves admit, in a post-screening Q+A, that there are some things they would do differently now, looking back on a project they last saw in 2019. This is understandable.
The most powerful scenes throughout seem to be those without dialogue - the initial reception of Will’s return, the glowering sister.
What interests me most, however, was the cast’s discussion of the ways in which they prepared before filming, namely through improvisation and the creation of character background. In my mind, a short film is a complete story in itself, that leaves you wanting more.
My fascination with the backstories of the characters speaks to this urge to learn more, which was mostly the case with The Long Walk Home.
Some questions I did feel deserved a little more attention, however, such as the reasoning behind the final denouement in Will’s character arc.
What I found most touching about The Long Walk Home is the role of Kickstarter and the film’s backers.
It seemed a real indication to me of people’s love of cinema and the arts, in their willingness to put money and faith in a project that they only got the opportunity to see premiere two years later.
There was a real sense of community amongst the crowd, whether you were friends, backers, or members of the crew.
Although The Long Walk Home is not currently available to watch online, Director Vanessa Bailey’s work can be found elsewhere.
A short in which she appears, Seeing Him, can be found online, and, with two more shorts in the works, one to be filmed in January and the other receiving its final touches, we are sure to be seeing plenty more of her direction soon.