It's Never Too Late (To Say You're Sorry)

‘It’s Never Too Late (To Say You’re Sorry)’, has that distinct feel of an indie, debut short film, which all great short films possess. It demonstrates the talents of the writer, director, and actors, potentially providing them with a footing to further their careers in the world of film, whilst also telling an interesting, coherent story. Of course, the downside, though in the long run it often turns out to be the upside, of such films, is that they are inherently flawed, with the unpolished edges of a fledgling filmmaker such as Craig Hamilton.

This is one of the finest recent examples of such a film - a handheld, nine-minute short, shot as though the filmmaker has something to prove, but also something to say. ‘It’s Never Too Late (To Say You’re Sorry)’ follows Ste (Liam Pennington), as he seeks to find peace with a childhood friend with whom he has long since grown distant towards. Now middle-aged, Ste hasn’t spoken to his friend in 22 years, when they had one of those familiar fallouts over a girl.

The film is filled with wonderfully nostalgic anecdotes about the things the two got up to in their childhood - the fun, the games, the bending of the rules. There’s talk of pubs and plimsolls and terrifying next-door neighbours - the sorts of things which all seemed like major events when we were young, but now we’ve all grown and experienced the world they seem rather inconsequential, and a safe space to cast our minds too.

Ste’s Gran once said to him “don’t hold grudges because you only end up hurting yourself”. It’s a lesson we could all do with learning, or else we are left with a void of despair and hatred. That void is only explored when emotions are unlocked, as ‘It’s Never Too Late (To Say You’re Sorry) shows with a truly emotional gut punch. Though that would have been an apt place to conclude, the film then runs a little past its stay, as a song kicks in which doesn’t quite match the sombre tone of the rest of the film - it’s one of those slight missteps. 


Whilst, the film is tender in its portrayal of this broken friendship, you do wish that it would dwell a little longer on the event in question which split the friends up, though you wonder whether this was intentional - the past is merely a memory, after all, and we shouldn’t let it affect our future too such a great degree.

That is, however, a relatively minor quibble with ‘It’s Never Too Late (To Say You’re Sorry), which is, for the most part, a caring story of how important it is for us to treasure our friendships, and cling onto them should they bring us joy. This is a short film with so much heart, that it’s impossible not to feel emotional at times, as it strikes a chord with every human being on the planet. We all know that feeling of losing a friend, whether it be abruptly disagreeing, or a slow drift apart, it is a familiar course for all of us. The film tells us not to let go, and right now, as we live in dark times, that’s a message more important than ever.