Mother

It's a tremendous challenge for any film director and/or screenwriter to create a complete indie short film with, a beginning, a middle and an end with beautiful arcs for all its characters in just eleven minutes. But that's just what Gregory G. Allen does with his first film Mother. Add to that challenge, he takes the risk in that short period of time, to jump back and forth within time, so that we see our main character as a young boy, a teenager and then a young adult. And each transition is so organic that his end result feels seamless. Addiction and self-destructiveness can be tricky material to play with but because Allen's choices and direction come from a place of truthfulness, it doesn't feel cliché or "done before." The entire cast: Beth Baur, David Skyler, Michael Nigro and Ari Gelman are all perfectly cast. And Allen's minimalist script combined with Rob Moretti's editing and Jeff Turick's direction of photography makes for one stunning debut for this first time filmmaker.

What impressed me most about this film is how it created such a depth of emotion in me as a viewer in such a short period of time. This film made me think about what it means to be steadfastly loyal, what it feels like to break, to be broken, and to have someone there to witness your pain, root for you, and stay with you physically and emotionally until the end, whatever form the end might take.

I saw this film on a big screen in Boston, and found it to be a moving tribute to the power of love. Anything else I might say will sound trite or clichéd, and this movie is the opposite of that. It is pure and true. The cast and crew, directors and producers, all who are associated with the film should be profoundly proud.

This is an amazing short film. In only 11 minutes the viewer is taken on an emotional journey and shown the unwavering strength of a Mother's love. Beautifully shot, great script and the acting is outstanding. The mood of the film, the way the camera angles were shot, and the editing all support the storyline and the final result is fantastic. The musical score also supports the film beautifully and adds to the emotion of the film perfectly. This film feels like a feature film and Director Greg Allen has knocked it out of the park in his directorial debut film. Congrats to the entire cast, crew and post-production team! I am positive that Mother will hitting many more film festivals and receiving more awards in the future!