Good Friday

Good Friday is a one-hour gem of a film. It portrays two young men fighting the battles that life has thrown at them. Full of comedy, action, and drama, this film proves its absolute commitment to creating a vibrant and touching work of art that is non-stop in its pacing throughout.

Directed and starring the dazzling up-and-coming Jason Mendoza, the film begins as highly artful and raw. Viewers are introduced to Niño, a young, troubled man who suffers from leukaemia and is dealing with poverty. His mother, played by Luceny Gonzalez, is in denial about Niño’s illness and places her efforts into encouraging him to work and buy himself a new pair of shoes for Church, so that he is not perceived as a sick poor boy. In an effortlessly emotional one-shot take, Niño is well established and understood, as is his mother, and thus our story begins as Niño seeks to fulfil his mother’s wishes and acquire a pair of new shoes.

Very similar to the film Good Time (2017) starring Robert Pattinson and directed by the Safdie brothers, Good Friday plays out like a side quest gone horrifically wrong. Like Good Time, the film leans on continuous comedy and spontaneity in its storyline, followed by an emotional gut punch at its closure. Alike to the estranged partnership between Robert Pattinson’s character, Connie, and his brother Benny, Niño is joined by sidekick Dee, played by Christian Echeverria, both with deep-set motivations leading them to carry out a dangerous heist. Niño and Dee were once the closest of friends but have since fallen apart. Good Friday presents their desperation bringing them back together, despite their separation certainly having put a strain on their friendship.

This film is full of riveting drama and action sequences, with convincing special effects and a gritty sound design providing a necessary element of disturbance to the gory violence the characters endure. Good Friday involves several effective montage sequences enhanced with erratic camera work which excellently build tension during the film’s most frantic, panic-filled moments. At some points, the film feels overstimulating due to its constant colour-grading shifts, as well as its variation in tone throughout. While the film’s constant change in direction, mood, and depth may be jarring for some viewers, Jason Mendoza relies on this to captivate and maintain the story’s unpredictability and panicked feel.

Weaknesses in Good Friday lie in its unfortunately confused sound design. The dialogue in its outdoor scenes occasionally comes across as unnaturally dubbed over, therefore the film loses its impact slightly at these points. However, this does not overshadow some of the film’s most wonderfully executed scenes, particularly the first long take of Niño and his mother, as well as its powerful, heartfelt ending.

Good Friday is a unique cancer story in which the cancer itself is only mentioned for a few minutes. The characters themselves carry the story, and the direction and editing complete the piece, resulting in an exciting and emotionally fulfilling film about several different types of challenges, all adding in their own way to the overall storyline. Consistently gripping and engaging, the passion both for filmmaking and for telling a loving story about a real-life chronic illness shines through this film marvellously.