The Weight Review

Star rating: 5/5

Writer: Marshall Malone

Director: Marshall Malone

Starring: Jaron Wallace, Aimee Ortiz and Jas Abramowitz

‘That’s what family does’ is the resounding phrase of this warm, giggly short comedy narrated in the ‘mockumentary’ format. Mockumentary is a brave choice of genre, having such a rich comedic heritage including The Office and This Country, but this film is beautifully done. Starring Jaron Wallace as the weighed-down protagonist, and Aimee Ortiz and Jas Abramowitz as his burdened family, The Weight is a comedy for our times exploring mental health and emotional responsibility. Family is a lot of things, above all the group of people who knows us inside out, the light and the shade, and this is brilliantly showcased in this piece which features funny, sincere performances by its whole cast. Aimee’s performance expressing uncertainty and affection in equal measure is particularly brilliant, accessible work.

Internal turmoil, fear, mental health challenges, experienced by so many people but understood seemingly by very few, is explored here not in a dramatic way, but from a more ordinary, even mundane point of view: the way it erupts on the everyday, on routines, on ways of living, and the way it disrupts assumptions about the home, and shared spaced more generally, and ultimately makes us see the world differently than we otherwise might. ‘Normally I would just let it go to voicemail’ is a usual response from people to those suffering with a mental health crisis when they call. But in The Weight, a change occurs. The audience gets taken through The Problem, the Reaction, and the Solution. We see clear cinematic influence here in the use of a narrative structure reminiscent of the documentary.

Technically the film is very dynamic, with great close-up and birds-eye-view shots we might see in documentaries, making it a coherent piece. The family home, including the garden, is the only location of the film, as this is a great set up in which to tell this story- we are being ‘let in’, the way documentaries let us into knowledge and experience.

‘Knowledge is your ally’, the protagonist is told by his brother. In the real world, which art and film aim to reflect, it is increasingly more evident that connection with our physical surroundings, being present in each moment, and belonging to a community are key tools to surmounting crises, of almost any kind- including emotional and psychological. Because certain situations in life turn out like a film, but some turn out like the bloopers at the end of this particular one which are a delightful addition. Hooray for heartwarming, tender films like The Weight.