One of the better trends in the film business these days is not only the explosion of filmmakers trying their hand at short films, but the fact that the public has access to such shorts like never before. Film festivals, streaming services, social media platforms – it’s quite easy to find a ton of shorts playing everywhere these days. And when a short can touch you demonstrably, even when its run time is barely 14 minutes, that truncated film has achieved something truly significant. I recently had the opportunity to view one such film, a Canadian short making the festival rounds these days entitled SOMETHING POINTLESS, and it is indeed, something quite special.
SOMETHING POINTLESS, written by Neil Graham and David Cormican, and directed by Asa Bailey, is an involving tale, smartly told in just over 14 minutes. It tells the parallel story of two troubles individuals in a small town in the UK: a sensitive boy being bullied in middle school and a senior citizen whose life philosophy is put to the test as his days start to wane.
Veteran Welsh actor Owen Teale plays Aldous Evans, the septuagenarian gentleman who narrates the short, telling us how he thinks that every individual should counter the hectic madness of life all about them each day by doing something for themselves that is utterly pointless. A recess, if you will, from the demands of the world that challenges us all. Leo Harris plays the boy, a long-haired, artistically inclined kid, one whose large, expressive eyes belie the fact that he never smiles. He doesn’t have a lot to smile about at school as he’s an eccentric and an outcast, teased mercilessly to the point of torment. One gaggle of mean girls even soil his school uniform’s crisp white Oxford every day, usually by smearing his wardrobe with whatever his mom packed for his lunch that day.
The way SOMETHING POINTLESS is put together expresses both artistry and adroitness. It’s economically shot and edited, with no fat or excess, but it packs an emotional punch almost every second. Case in point, the unhappy boy is shown repeatedly in a montage having to clean out the stains from his shirts in a school sink, time after time, suggesting that this ordeal is daily and goes on for months. It never uses subtitles to suggest the passage of time, only crisp editing. And that suggestion of time is important to the timeline, as parallel to the boy’s troubles are Evans’ efforts to collect as many eggshells as he can from his breakfast each morning to use in a town art project he’s started.
Both lead actors are subtle, portraying their angst and insecurities without overplaying the pathos. Just how their stories will converge remains one of the cleverest conceits of the imaginative script. And the production values rival any feature, from its lovely cinematography by Keefa Chan to the rich score by Andrea Belluci. The whole enterprise moves fast, but never feels rushed. And don’t be surprised if there’s a tear in your eye by the end.
No wonder Canada is rolling out this short with passion, courtesy of the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition. It’ll soon be playing across North America and the UK at festivals and the like. As a critic who’s covered the Academy Award-nominated shorts for 15 years now, this one feels like a genuine contender for such accolades. I’m sure it will figure in the awards at many of the festivals it will be a part of in the coming months.
I won’t say anything else about SOMETHING POINTLESS except to implore you to look for it playing at a festival near you, or perhaps on a streaming platform you subscribe to, in the near future. It likely will be a part of the Chicago International Film Festival this fall as they always have a robust shorts programs. And while you’re at it, seek out other exceptional short films too as they not only often have all the storytelling qualities you’d find in features, but they’re short and sweet for everyone’s fractured world and sparseness of time. Indeed, think of SOMETHING POINTLESS as that recess from everyday trials and tribulations that drove Evans’ life philosophy. I dare say, that wise old man was onto something. Something so very meaningful.
