Review by: Angry Princess
“Grace” has to be one the most disturbing things I have seen in such a long time. Paul Solet’s not quite six minutes short takes no prisoners as it shows it’s no holes barred content which leads me to assume this man will be pumping out some brilliant work in the years to come. It’s sometimes hard to comprehend how such a short film can leave such a huge impact on a person while some other hour long movies are drab and boring barely holding one’s full attention.
A couple are driving to the doctors office so the very pregnant wife can get her ultrasound. Madelyn’s pale face registers concern as she try’s to explain to her husband that she fears ultrasounds are unhealthy for the unborn baby and she really doesn’t want to have it done, instead she wants to have a natural birth involving no hospitals. He isn’t having any of that nonsense and flat out tells her she’s staying with this doctor and doing it the right, safe way at the hospital where there is an equipped staff to deal with all sorts of emergencies.
As he stresses his point of view of the situation he gets a little agitated and with the adrenaline pumping he decides to pass the slow moving vehicle in front of them because he can’t take the sluggish driver any longer. Not judging his distance to well lands them in a nasty accident that leaves him and the unborn baby dead. Lying bruised and beaten on a hospital cot Madelyn sobs uncontrollably for her lost partner and their token of love that she tried so hard to protect. She decides she still wants to carry it to full term.
Complete and udder despair helped persuade her to keep carrying the child that lies lifeless inside her. I know in her mind she thinks the baby will somehow miraculously be ok and she’ll wake up from this awful nightmare that has become her life. You watch as she silently shops at a kids store with a bulging belly and a vacant crazed look upon her face right before she goes into an agonizing labor. You watch helplessly as she rides the waves of painful contractions in that sterile cold modern hospital environment knowing that baby is dead…but for how long?
Two nurses watch with heavy hearts as Marylyn tries to bond with the dead baby and decide they need to intervene and take the corpse away but as the nurse tells her “You can’t will a baby back to life” she looks down to see that the baby is wriggling in it’s mothers arms. That last scene leaves you shaking your head in disbelief and eagerly wanting to see more. I really hope he makes it into a full feature length film in the future or at least picks up where he left off. Never have I craved more of a film like I did upon viewing this short, I woke up the next day still thinking about it.
The labor scenes were enough to make my uterus twinge at the thought of going thru that and thankfully I have my children already or I think I would be petrified to give birth after seeing this film. Let’s just say it brought back memories of that hellacious pain that I had endured and reminded me not to bother doing it again…ever! All in all, this film was amazing and doesn’t let up for a second, you don’t even want to blink because your afraid you’ll miss a moment of it’s richness and you’ll have goose bumps at the thought of what the filmmaking future of Paul Solet will bring.
