The Dead Kid

"The Dead Kid" finds a nice balance between tones of humor and sadness. It is an easy film to surrender yourself to because you can feel the filmmaker conveying that which many films lack: honesty.

The ability to find subject material that an audience can truly relate to can be a difficult task. Creating the experience to move an audience in line with that message, however, takes serious skill.

Though the director is only in the early stages of his career, he shows he can create a film that pulls the audience into a complete world. He allows you to travel alongside the protagonist with complete security knowing that your time -- and the experience -- are well worth it.

I was very much moved by this short story from Gillian King and the way it was brought to life by its director Gregory Goyins.

The Dead Kid is the memory of a childhood time when Frankie, a neighborhood kid who was frequently the target of bullies disappears and the community is shaken up. Frankie's parents are grief stricken while other parents keep a closer eye on their own. As told by Annie, who lived on the same street as Frankie, the other kids run wild with speculation as to what happened to him.

A favorite place for kids to go to was the town dump, which was tended to by the town's dump keeper, Mr. Dunbar. Everything the town no longer wanted or needed would end up there and what is one person's trash is another person's treasure. Mr. Dunbar understood kids, both the good and the bad parts of them.

I think the way Greg Goyins brought out the realness of the kids was excellent, but to me the most important character was Mr. Dunbar. What is beautiful about this film is we can all take from it so many different emotions. I loved it.

The Dead Kid is a wonderful half hour short that touches on the topics of bullying, racism and peer pressure without being heavy handed on any of the issues. Rather, the director/writer Goyins weaves elements of these social issues into the fabric of a place in time that we can all relate to.

The bullied kid in the piece is a target for many reasons, reasons that we can all remember when thinking back to our school aged years, and reasons that kids can still relate to today. The story further delves into a surprising direction when the bullied kid goes missing, and it takes us into all too familiar territory where peer pressure and the need to be liked play significant roles in the choices we make at a young age.

I would recommend this short for viewing by any middle school anti-bullying organization.

"The Dead Kid" is everything you hope for when you start watching a short film. The cinematography is strong, the sound and editing are invisible (sound is so often a short film's downfall), the score is present at all the right times but not overtly so—the film is feature- quality. But ultimately, what stands out most after viewing "The Dead Kid" is how well-written it is. The story has a forward-motion rarely seen in short films, and even features. Every scene matters in this film, nothing is nonessential. You find yourself deeply engrossed in every character, the main and the supporting. Dialogue is genuine, moments are real; you will find yourself moved to a multitude of emotions throughout the film's entirety. Well-crafted and meaningful, Gregory Goyins and his team of filmmakers have made a substantial piece of film that is surely the beginning of long-line of significant work to come.

THE DEAD KID deals with the conflicts of childhood's mistakes. The protagonist knows she is complicit to wrongdoing even though she didn't do wrong, and she confesses her feelings of guilt in this touching, smart and wise little film. Deftly written with a realistic yet poetic tone, THE DEAD KID is directed with dark and vital imagery,illuminating a story that could have happened to anybody. The story deals with bullying--the kid who is innocent, bullied, yet takes it and perhaps expects it. Two girls observe the acts but do nothing to stop them, and one of them suffers for realizing that.

Watching THE DEAD KID reminds the viewer of those many omissions and slight transgressions of childhood and youth we were never punished for, except in our own hearts. Very touching, very well done. It is a remembrance and an apology for all of us.