Weightless Words

A short drama written and directed by Amy Munt and starring Rachael Holbrook, Chris Braden and Missi Chappell.

Terri (Holbrook) is in a bad position. She works in the creative media industry and lives with her long-time partner, Lance (Braden). Unfortunately, during the last few months, Lance has been unemployed and just stays at home, slacking while Terri travels to London for her job. Now, this situation has begun to take its toll on her and Lance refuses to admit that he is doing anything wrong. For support, she turns to her friend, Perry (Chappell), who she hasn't seen for years because she was constantly spending time with her boyfriend. Eventually, Terri must decide whether there is hope in her current relationship or whether the time has come to end it.

The screenplay does a great job in developing drama and character development. Focusing on a romantic relationship that is on the edge, the nonlinear narrative consists of scenes that involve the couple's troubled situation, flashbacks revealing their former happiness together and scenes where Terri discusses her issues with Perry. The result is many scenes of confrontation, emotional moments and some amount of joy that can be found in the flashbacks and the dramatic music by Ethan O'Mahony adds more quality to the viewing experience.

Although the film effectively explores themes involving relationships, support and friendship, it could be argued that it could had been more effective if the duration was feature-length, significantly more than forty-five minutes. That way, perhaps the story could had also gradually revealed how the couple's relationship deteriorated over time and how Terri was separated from Perry, making things even more dramatic and having more depth.

The film benefits significantly from the strong performances from the three leads. Terri is a hard-working and good-natured person who cares deeply for Lance, however she has had enough of him not doing his part for their relationship. Following failed attempts to become a writer, Lance seems to have given up on everything and believes that he is doing nothing wrong. The trouble that his stubborness and selfishness creates in the household is the main conflict of the story, in some ways making him the antagonist. As Terri's best friend, Perry sees things clearly, understanding that Lance is no good and that Terri should end things with him.

Focusing now on the themes, the majority involves themes that tend to deal with troubled relationships, those being emotional deterioration, lack of communication, refusal to acknowledge responsibilities and errors and lack of honesty. On a more positive note, the film also looks into the significance of friendship and support.

This is a poignant story about a relationship that appears to be coming to an end. The strong acting and well-written screenplay create a great deal of drama. The main message seems to be that sometimes toxic relationships reach a point where they need to end.