Diana (played by Dina Selimovic) and Max (played by Erik Scilley) are a married couple in their prime, living their life. The only problem here is that Diana's life comes with something that disturbs her well-being: post-traumatic disorder from the war. She served her time, and as it seems, it wasn't in the best place on earth. She cannot sleep or live normally, and everything appears stressful and final. There is no silence in her head, only a constant storm that drives her mind crazy. There aren't many things she can do, but there is one thing. Will she do it?
After watching this short film, we had in mind these lyrics from Neutral Milk Hotel's hit song 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea': "And one day we will die/ And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea/ But for now we are young/ Let us lie in the sun/ And count every beautiful thing we can see." This quote sums up in the first part how life is seen by Diana, where everything is grey and turns dark very fast, and in the second part, Max wishes for them to happen, as both need to regain power over their lives. The central turning point in this short is the constant feeling of unsafety that Diana experiences. Her PTSD mood swings are tiresome for her well-being, and nothing seems good enough to make them disappear. When the neighbor's kid comes around, her world crumbles even more. We can see it in her eyes and her actions. Luying Wang manages to foreground powerful features in her characters, depicting a life so troublesome that even the viewer feels the thrills all over their body. We felt the pain right in the core of our hearts, and by managing to do so, Luying Wang gave us a taste of what her future projects will look like. We have confidence that she will continue to improve with each project she takes on.
Written by Vlad A. G.