directed by:
Chadwick Harman written by: Chadwick Harman genre: Sci-Fi, Drama |
That is a whole lot of satellite dishes onscreen in “Bright Forests”—one can only imagine the channels they’re pickin’ up on television. My cousins up north used to have one of those, and I can remember going out there into the yard and manually turning this big giant thing to pick up the best signals. Those were the days.
Anyhow! This isn’t about that - “Bright Forests” deals more directly with a father having established contact with an alien civilization some forty years ago - and his daughter has grown up awaiting their reply. This film covers quite a bit of ground for just over fifteen minutes and cleverly divides this story into even smaller chapters for us to follow along with. You’ll go from seeing the original setup in Christopher Isaacs’ garage long ago to seeing his painstaking exploration into the unknown - through charts and graphs plotting out where he has and hasn’t beamed a signal, to eventually making contact towards the start of “Bright Forests” as well. What I think I immediately loved about this short film is that we can see where it’s going right from its very first moments onscreen, but what will completely surprise you is the initial twist, which reveals that establishing contact isn’t always as black & white as any of us would assume it would be. In fact, it’s not actually Chris reaching out to the void so much as the void is reaching out to him – only it’s not looking for him at all – the entity on the other side of the screen is actually looking for some dude named Fred. How awesome is that? Can you imagine spending your entire life seeking out the confirmation of some kind of alien life, only for them to essentially respond with, new phone, who dis? What if they ONLY wanted to talk to Fred and simply hung up on you every time you called? How do you respond if you’re not Fred, which the majority of us are not? This concept sets such a unique and clever tone from the get-go in this film, and while it’s not the whole plot, it certainly captures your imagination instantly. “Somewhere between the moment that I speak and the moment you hear me, I’ve changed. Just a bit. Just a fraction of a second older. Just enough to be different.” I love that whole section of dialogue from Chris (played perfectly by Jeffrey Larson) during an interview. He goes on the explain what’s really the whole crux of this entire reality – that the change he’s referring to occurs within a two-foot space and happens quickly, whereas contacting life outside our own planet takes like, freakin’ YEARS. It’s to the point where you might get the good fortune of sending out a message, but will you even live long enough to get a response? It’s clearly not at all likely. And so, Fred finds life out there in the solar system and sends a message. The response comes back to Chris. Chris sends a message, and who knows who gets the response after him? So on and so on. It’s a genuinely fascinating concept and very much a real possibility based on the sheer logic of time - and the lifespan of the average human being. In an even odder and likely unintentional tie-in, Jeffrey Larson also shares a name with a “computational mathematician” in real life, whose research could also be fundamental to the future ahead of us.
Where “Bright Forests” excels most is the reminder of how small a role human life plays in the greater scope of the galaxy and how it highlights how wonderful that truly is - when looked at through a wider lens of exploration and discovery. Sure, maybe we’re a tiny fraction of the wonders of the universe when we are zoomed right in, but when we are able to make contact with life on another planet - or find out new things about the galaxy and how it relates to our existence, we realize we’re part of something so much more extraordinary & enormous. We’re a mere chapter in a book that seems to never run out of pages, but crucially important to the story all the same. With Chris’ research you can look at it as a scientific breakthrough for sure, but it’s also the galactic equivalent of putting a message in a bottle. I’m definitely among those of us who find it endlessly fascinating what a tiny drop in the bucket we are and feel a great need to believe we’re somehow more important than all indications would likely prove – there’s always a possibility that there’s so much more to our story than we’ll ever be able to know, and ain’t that one of the best things about living life? Maybe we’ll be around for another tiny little piece of this big giant puzzle we’re all involved in…it’s precisely these moments that make existence exciting. I had a feeling that I’d seen the end of this film coming – and I’m so happy to report that it went in a totally different direction than I assumed it would have. It would have been so easy for “Bright Forests” to wrap up with a message popping up onscreen, even if we didn’t get to know what it was. Instead, Part IV of this film, entitled “To Wait” – will expand this whole concept even further out than you’d expect - and personalize it in a way that’ll be unique to every individual who watches it. I thought it was an absolutely outstanding way to wrap things up! It gives each and every person the ability to let their mind wander and come up with their own interpretation of what the end actually means. I’m not going to give anything away here - because I truly feel like this is a MUST-WATCH short film with stunning writing & execution from Writer/Director Chadwick Harman – but I’m tellin’ ya that what you’ll witness at the end of “Bright Forests” could very well inspire many of you to start shifting your own satellites around one day. This is practically as complete and compelling as a story can be, y’all – I’m endlessly impressed by what I’ve experienced in “Bright Forests” and feel like it’s a film that has truly universal appeal. Do I want this to be the prologue or the start of a story? I kind of do! And I also think that’s kind of the point, ain’t it? You’ll know what I mean when you watch it for yourself. I sincerely hope you all do – “Bright Forests” gets a very enthusiastic four and a half stars out of five from me – this is storytelling at its finest, combined with the boundless wonder of the universe that expertly leaves our imagination to fill in the blanks. |
|
|
More To Check Out.
|
