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Directed and written by Kirstie Austin
Starring Eric Lettman, Susan Jude, Bridgette Haviland, Andy Vehon, April Walterscheid
Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen
Kirstie Austin throws us head first into the world of a neglected child in her new short film Invisible Me, seen through the eyes of the baby, we follow him through the deterioration of his home life and parents.
The short starts with a baby alone in his cot, being tended to by his mother in a well kept home, but it’s not long until the surroundings start to change, furniture is sold off, cleaning falls by the wayside, and it’s clear that drug addiction has taken its hold on the parents of this baby.
Austin uses narration from the child to guide the audience through the journey, giving us more of an insight into the frame of mind of someone suffering at the hands of neglectful parents, an important move as it creates a sense of character to the child who we never actually see, as Invisible Me is all shot in POV.
Invisible Me is a very professional looking short film, but that’s not a surprise. Austin has an already well-established career as a director, writer and producer on a wide range of short films. This experience shines through on this piece of work; camera angles are well thought out to create a sense of reality to the child’s movements, lighting and location make an immediate impact, all coming together to create a sense of hopelessness and despair.
One of the most impressive things about Invisible me is the impact it creates with the audience in such a short period of time, something that I have found a lot of filmmakers struggle with when creating a short piece.
Invisible Me is atmospheric, gripping and compelling, dragging us through the hell that this child experiences, we are there, invested in the outcome of the welfare of the leading character, feeling the isolation and desperation, in turn creating a sense of empathy which compels our interest as a viewer.
Austin has created something that is very hard to achieve, a short film under 15 minutes that creates an emotional impact on its viewer, and that is something that should not be overlooked when examining her film career.
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