Leaving (Short)
“Leaving” is a beautiful, emotional nine minutes. That’s pretty much the crux of my feelings about the film, but there is more to say about it. Writer-director Debra Markowitz says in less than 10 minutes what it sometimes takes people years to understand about moving on from loss, and does so in one of the most wonderful, surprising ways I’ve seen a filmmaker do it. In her film, we see Emily (Molly Ryman) talking to a counselor. She finds herself at a crossroads, as she knows she has to leave her family, but she is unable to do so. She wants more time with them, and she doesn’t want to be forgotten. The counselor has wise words for her, about how her feelings, ultimately, are less important than those of her family at this particular time, and she has to respect that. By now, I’m sure you’ve probably figured out the nature of the story, but I’m still not going to reveal it all, because whether you’ve figured it out or not, I think the film deserves the chance to move you the way it did me, without someone else giving too much away.
