We Got It Easy
2019 · 5m · United Kingdom
Directed by Elise Martin
Genres: coming-of-age, LGBTQ+, musical
Tones: contemplative, provocative, theatrical
We Got It Easy is a short musical film about the daily struggles of young people in Britain. Opening on a bright morning in a British town, it follows several young people dealing with gender identity, sexism, school gossip and generational dismissal. With no dialogue, it communicates entirely through singing, building to duets and a crescendo of voices toward the end. The recurring phrase 'we got it easy' turns out to be older generations belittling young people's problems.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
The all-singing-no-dialogue conceit could've been a gimmick, but Martin uses it to actually *say* something—turning 'we got it easy' from generational cliché into a structural argument. It's formally subversive in a way that serves the thesis, not just the aesthetics.
A formally rigorous piece that situates itself deliberately in the tradition of political musical theatre while respecting the constraints of five minutes—the layering of voices toward the crescendo and the ironic repurposing of a dismissive phrase show real compositional craft and thematic intention.
The decision to strip dialogue entirely and let the overlapping vocals carry both character and conflict in the final minutes is elegant economy; it's a single formal choice that transforms what could be preachy into something architecturally sound and genuinely moving.
Reviews
This short New Creatives film created by Jess Bartlett and Elise Martin seemed to really capture the realism of British school life, down to the gossip in the changing room and the uniforms. The duet parts and the crescendo of voices towards the end really compounded the message of the film, and was complemented by great acting.