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★★★★★
Directed by: #MattMorris
Written by: Matt Morris
Starring: #TravisMitchell and #MalikUhuru
Grief is like an ocean they say, deep and encompassing, swallowing you whole, and sometimes making you do crazy things, or just plain making you crazy.
People are often driven to feel this way because they think they didn’t do or say enough when the person was alive, that they never got to say goodbye, or they could have played more games of Connect 4 with them, you know the usual, but what if you had a chance to talk to them one last time?
So in this modern age we live in, where the government is stealing your information and tracking you daily though your smart phone, does it not come to surprise us that spirits have moved on up in the world also...the digital world that is.
No longer are we confined to gabbing with the dead through the old Ouija board routine, oh no, this is the digital age and the spooky spirits know it.
#Shortfilm Partitioned Heart is a ghost tale for the modern age, whereby a father, Rob, finds a computer program that enables him to talk to his recently deceased son, but sadly this is not as easy for the spirit as the father would hope, his son is still feeling the pain from the mortal world and so pleads with his father to delete him forever.
The main focal point of the film is Rob, and the roller coaster of emotions we see him go through, we are so close to him it’s almost as if we can reach out and touch his face, as shots are set up like those of a Skype phone call or web cam chat. This choice also allows the audience a connection with the son, trapped inside the computer, with only one window to peer out of; his only connection is his father, giving the viewer a sense of isolation.
Rob who is played by Travis Mitchell brings to the table a stirring and moving performance, often in these shorts we see acting that meets the bar, but often won’t surpass it, for they are actors in training, but Travis not only passes the bar, but throws it to the ground and sets fire to it.
His ability to move from feeling positivity and joy while talking with his son, to utter despair and sadness at the news that he must shut him down in a matter of minutes is compelling to watch.
You feel every second of his internal struggle, of his conflict to keep his son in his life, but at the same time not to let him suffer, and that touch you could almost reach out and achieve, quickly becomes the desire to give him a hug.
Partitioned Heart does not bring much to the table in regards to complex drama, storylines or action sequences, but what is does bring is an amazing tale of unconditional love, of emotional conflict and the things we will do to keep our loved ones happy.
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