Bridges (short film)
851 views · Published 19 August 2013 · 11:35 · Indexed 14 October 2026
Channel: NoBudge · 2013 · Film & Animation
By Kentucker Audley Monday August 19th, 2013 A simple, restrained story of an afternoon with a babysitter, well-acted and carefully crafted. Actress Joslyn Jensen is eminently watchable as Elizabeth, the sitter, as she was in the excellent 2011 film, Without. Bridges begins as a non-dramatic exercise in capturing mood and detail, but a situation arises when the child's father, who is not allowed to see his son, shows up. Director Christopher Bell presents an uncommon combination of the hyper-real and the artful. We trust these are real people but there's an artistry constructed around it, we linger on close-ups of fish in fishbowls and popcorn makers. So, the ex-husband shows up, disrupting a quiet afternoon, and Elizabeth decides to bolt. And the film threatens to unhinge. Smartly, everything else is left vague. The withholding of information has an inviting effect - it gives us room to think and thus engage. (The number one way to ruin your movie is to have your characters describe the plot) Out in the cold and hostile New York city streets, we're not sure if anything is settling
