Andrew Carlslaw’s short drama has a double perspective upon life, being at the same time cinematographic and educational. ‘Emmi’ tells the story of a teenager with a dirty little secret, and her neighbour, a well-intended woman that gets to help her when she is in need. Her secret is prone to change the life of everyone living in the building.

​

One thing we really enjoyed in ‘Emmi’ was the score – deep and emotional, sending the right vibe and dragging the viewer into the story with great ease. For a theme like this one, the score is very important, and we’ve seen many drama movies where the score didn’t do what it was supposed to do. In ‘Emmi’, Andrew Carlslaw was very precise with the details, leaving almost no blind spots. The characters of Emmi and Sarah were good and totally believable, having no moment of doubt about their faith. It is quite hard to write about this short without giving spoilers, so we will try to be as gentle as we can.

​

Abuse in any form is never good news, and when the result is murder, it is even worse. Andrew Carslaw dealt with this delicate subject in a gentle way, foregrounding the roots of all evil and the horrific result. Even though this short combines some good features, the overall result wasn’t as moving as we would have expected. Yes, it has the dramatic side very well delimitated, but there is something about the cinematography and editing that made it feel like it was still in the project phase. The shot that keeps this movie together is exactly the last one when you, as a viewer, understand the issue and the importance of this short, but without that, this movie would be just another brick in the wall. 

 

Written by Vlad A. G