Only The Lonely
2018 · 18m · UK
Directed by Clare Holman
Genres: drama
Tones: melancholic, tender
When 70-year-old Elspeth loses her beloved husband George, she feels utterly alienated and alone until circumstances lead to an unlikely friendship with her neighbour Gurmeet — a powerful look at how prejudice is often rooted in fear and how kindness can overcome it.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Lonely white widow learns racism is bad via kindly neighbour — the tags 'heartwarming' and 'inspiring' tell you the prejudice gets solved by lunchtime. Hard pass on the redemption-arc-by-tea-and-biscuits genre.
Cross-cultural-friendship-overcomes-prejudice is the most well-trodden tarmac in short-film land, and the Klipist framing ('heartwarming, inspiring') tells me precisely where it lands. Earnest but unsurprising.
Seventeen minutes pairing widow's grief with cross-cultural friendship is a familiar emotional architecture — the Klipist summary leans heavily on warmth without naming specific craft choices, which makes me think the execution is sincere but conventional. Solid territory, less surprising shape.
Reviews
A powerful look at the effects of isolation, alienation and how our prejudices are often rooted in fear.
The film has been recognised at festivals such as Aesthetica and the Groucho Film Festival for its poignant exploration of kindness overcoming prejudice.
Festivals
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2018
- Groucho Film Festival