Title:  Father’s Day
Rating: NR
Director: Betty Ouyang
Starring: Larry Wang Parrish, Betty Ouyang, Angelita Bushey
Runtime: 14 mins

What It Is: A widowed father visits his two daughters for father’s day. He spends the afternoon listening to them bicker about each other’s lifestyles while criticizing their living choices. 

What We Think: This film screened more like a PSA or social commentary on what it means to make it in LA. There was a potential narrative with a great premise that needed some serious fleshing out. Most of the film is composed of talking heads, who do just that. They talk about the issue rather than cinematically leading the audience to the issue or the big reveal. The short film was mostly shot in one location, a majority of it at the dinner table. To be able to tell a story in one room without being oversaturated by dialogue is a difficult task to execute. The shot composition was great, there just needed to be more of them. If there were more shots that showed either the daughters or the father psychologically deteriorating from the situation at hand, the narrative would have been stronger. Actor Larry Wang Parrish, who played the father, was sure convincing in his disappointment during dinner. This made the ending heartwarming even if the second act struggled a bit.

Our Grade: C, A sense of frustration from each character was key in moving this story along. It was easy to identify with the characters’ struggles; unfortunately, it fell short by feeling like a scene out of a reality TV show instead of a short film.