Title: Small Time
Director: Niav Conty
Starring: Audrey Grace Marshall, Holter Graham, Kevin Loreque, Dominique Johnson
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

What It Is: It can be brutal enough just to grow up a girl. Then add poverty, addiction, and God to the mix. Armed with a gun and a prayer, Emma and her cat bravely go where too many girls have gone before. It’s a war, and we gotta win it.

What We Think: Small Time is a very somber and grey story about a deeply unnerving and sad experience. At the forefront of this tale, we have Emma (Audrey Grace Marshall), a young girl who goes through a multitude of life-altering and in some cases, horrific experiences that no child should have to go through. At its core, this film has a fantastic lead with Marshall’s performance. There is a visible confusion in her eyes as she traverses through a grown-up world and its disturbed characters, which is perfect for the character she is portraying. Any excessive emotion or tantrums would’ve seemed more unrealistic and sappy, to some extent. The other actors here deliver as well, with one performance, in particular, being tremendously alluring (and this may sound strange, due to the short amount of screen time it has), that of Alexanna Brier. There’s a quality to her performance that I can’t really describe… but I feel compelled to mention it due to how much it entranced me – keep a lookout for her, folks.

Another great aspect of the film is its cinematography. There are some absolutely stunning shots laid throughout this picture, and the way the camera is set up and moved around is very creative and eye-catching. This adds to the overall subdued and cold atmosphere of the film – which is the main gripe I have with it. A double-edged sword, if you will. While the presentation is stellar for setting the tone, the tone itself can get increasingly more difficult to bear. I understand that it’s how the story is meant to be told, but a feeling of uneasiness and mild anguish that only increased as the film went on made it somewhat unbearable to watch. For some, it might be a huge plus, but bringing anything other than bittersweet emotions could’ve been better for this type of picture. In the simplest terms – it’s a bit too much, and it might not engage or captivate you for that very reason. One disturbing/nauseous scene after another adds up to a very bleak conclusion, one that did not sit with me.

Our Grade: B- While Small Time encapsulates the difficult traumas of loss through the eyes of a young girl, the (many) events themselves are so emotionally wearing that one could become numb by its ending. Not for the faint of heart!