The fine line between caring and smothering in a relationship is examined in the emotional and intense Out Of Time.

Synopsis

Note: This synopsis is taken from the YouTube page for this film.

Relationships can take a lot of time and effort. There’s often a fine line between caring and smothering. When one person can’t breathe and another can’t let go, two lovers find the meaning of “out of time.”

Review

I stumbled onto this little gem via Twitter. Sometimes social media does have its benefits and isn’t merely a gigantic a time suck. But that’s a different topic and not germane for a film review.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

We’re first introduced into this world by way of quick flashbacks interspersed with the present-day view of an upset Sarah. The flashbacks show her boyfriend Eric leaving in a huff in his convertible. Wiping her nose, she gets a message from Eric on Facebook saying he’s coming over.

She doesn’t let him in because, as she says, she “needs some time”. Probably more than a few of you are familiar with this conversation if you’ve ever been in a relationship that’s gone south. Time is the one thing we seem to need but never have enough of it, especially in emotioally-strained relationships.

The twist comes in about halfway through. Eric leaves. Sarah peeks outside to find nobody in her yard and goes inside. The phone rings. It’s a police investigator calling for information on Eric. He had died in a car accident earlier in the day, and her phone number was the last one dialed. Sarah insists he was just there at her house and that she’d spoken to him not more than a few minutes earlier. The investigator informs her that Eric passed on four hours prior to the events in the film.

Denial and guilt sets in. Sarah continues to insist he was there at the door and she never got to tell him that she loved him. She puts the phone down on the couch and breaks down into a fit.

While there is a supernatural element to Out Of Time, it doesn’t beat us over the head with it. In this film it’s a nice plot device that it used to carry us (and Sarah) to the ending. Eric is undoubtedly there to say goodbye, and Sarah doesn’t let him know. It’s a story that many of us in real life are familiar with. How many of us have been the Sarah or the Eric, on one side of that door?

Overall the sound quality is good. The score enhances the emotions in the scenes and doesn’t overtake the dialogue. Shots are composed and graded well, except for one sequence. The one sequence that sticks out in my mind are the flashback scenes at the beginning. There’s some serious streaking going on, from the looks of it based on hot points on the actor’s faces and surroundings. This to me pulled me out of the scene rather than let me connect emotionally with the characters. It may have been done for effect though, and I’m not going to knock it too hard. Rather, I would say that it could have been toned down some if possible.

This film is also notable in that it is the first in a series of shorts being made by Seraph Films out of Los Angeles. Their stated goal is to produce one short per month. They’ve already released another, with many more on the way from the looks of their channel.

For the more curious about this production there’s also a behind-the-scenes video, which can be found here.

What did you think of Out Of Time? Leave a comment below.

Information

Genre: Drama
Country: United States
Release Year: 2011
Runtime: 7 min 38 sec
Written and Directed by: Gene Blalock
Cast: Vanessa Wolf, Devin Goodsell, James Tumminia
YouTube Channel: TheSeraphFilms
Twitter: @seraphfilms