After 125+ film festivals the heartfelt short film is still going strong.
For months now audiences and critics have been cheering on Chris King’s heavily emotional short which shows the strain placed on both a severely wounded Marines veteran and his wife. The simple film focusses on the human struggle of the two characters as they attempt to come to terms with the loss of limbs and the loss of innocence they suffer after an IED explosion overseas.
The film’s impressive haul of over 55 awards now (including two Best Director Awards, seven Best Actor Awards, three Best Editing Awards, 12 Best Short Film Audience Awards and 22 Jury Awards) shows no signs of slowing down after recently taking the Jury Prize at the St. Louis International Film Festival. The story of hope and strife has surely resonated with audiences more than ever around the past few weeks of remembrance on both sides of the Atlantic.
The demanding roles are handled admirably by leads Chris Gouchoe and Mandy Moody, despite the intense weight on their shoulders. Some painstaking, and impressive, effects work transforms Gouchoe into a veteran who’s lost several limbs but the real showstopper is Gouchoe’s emotiveness, conveying a lot with simple facial expressions and getting nods of approval from the people who’ve gone through the real deal.
Chris King has expressed his fascination with the subject due to his own history as a veteran himself and that connection has clearly been paying off with critics and the families of veterans alike who have been showering it with praise. The authenticity has struck a chord with several wounded veterans, no doubt in part to King’s research and conversation with wounded Marine, and Medal of Honor recipient, Corporal Kyle Carpenter.
You can find out more about the film on the website here and you can check out the film’s trailer here.
