Death, grief, isolation, and the horrors within them all are universal. The question of what gives life meaning when it all comes crashing to a halt, sometimes, unexpectedly, tends to send a chill running down our spines at the mere concept of what lies beyond. Last year’s unsettling Talk to Me (2023) made the chatter between realms a party game of risk-and-reward for high schoolers without a greater reverence for their souls (though who doesn’t think of themselves as immortal as kids). Having its world premiere at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is the short film Above & Within from filmmaker Pat Hall, a past participant in the SBIFF 10-10-10 Student Filmmaker Mentorship Program and Santa Barbara High’s Multimedia Arts and Design Academy. Putting one’s ideas on paper is one thing, but making them manifest is a challenge that requires determination and grit to accomplish. Now, with audiences turning their eyes on Hall’s work, one can easily see that this grit exists within this filmmaker. At roughly 20 minutes, Above & Within tackles emotional and cerebral matters with a deftness that excites as it makes one wonder what else could be conjured to be explored, poked, prodded, and otherwise vivisected out of the human experience and turned into disquieting dread.
With the unanticipated death of his father, Weston (Golden Garnick) returns to manage their ranch and settle his father’s affairs. Despite struggling with his grief, Weston seems intent on deal with things on his own, but that’s a dangerous proposition in the spacious American Midwest, as isolation can lead to all manner of revelations, good and bad.
Co-written by Hall and Jack Craymer, the film would mistakenly be perceived as a solo effort from Garnick. There are a few other people in the cast, but the only one that’s both a presence and a voice is Darby Hannon’s (Ashes) Darby, a neighbor who clearly has a history with Weston. Now, there’s nothing explicitly stated about the connection between the two, but the performance by Hannon and the choices in the script imply that the pair are deeply connected. In the opening moments of the film, it’s her voice we hear first before we see the inside of the family home. Before there’s an ounce of creep in the film, her’s is the invitation within and the clear anchor. For the duration, anytime that Darby’s in a scene, Hannon plays her as significant, using dialogue and physical cues to indicate something more than neighborly concern, something deeper. Her performance acts as a perfect foil for Garnick who pushes Weston more and more inward as the film goes on. Hannon’s ability to pull something out of the scenes is what makes Darby interesting and, by extension, makes us interested and invested in Weston. This becomes increasingly important as the true intentions of Above & Within make themselves known.
For his part, as the responsibility of carrying the film does fall on his shoulders, Garnick is a compelling performer who makes the most out of his scenes even when absent dialogue. Because of this, he relies on his external performance to maintain tension beyond the fantastical elements that creep into the narrative. Near the start, there’s a major clue that Hall and Craymer are injecting something south of sanity into the tale, and this clue is itself a mystery that is somewhat unraveled. However, doing so requires putting Weston off by himself for the majority of the film, which is where Garnick finds himself confined to what he does more than what he says in communicating to us where Weston is emotionally and psychologically. Sometimes it’s something small, like coming in the front door and pausing as he takes his hat and jacket off upon noticing his father’s hat still on the hook. Sometimes it’s investigating an unknown object spotted near his property, a potential curio that may be just the distraction he needs from dealing with his father’s passing. This read, of course, comes from the fact that there are many hints strewn throughout that imply an avoidance of post-death responsibilities; to do something makes the act real and therefore should be put off as long as possible. These are what the narrative choices convey and Garnick’s performance solidifies.
If you got into Above & Within looking for clear answers, you will likely walk out disappointed. So much of the film functions based on supporting themes and ideas that there are considerable aspects left vague. This is not a critical issue, but an observed aspect one should consider when ruminating on the project. We don’t actually know how big Weston’s family’s property is, but we know from Aiden Samford Ulrich’s gorgeous cinematography that it’s incredibly vast with some shots inferring Weston is but a snowflake upon a winter prairie, a dark horse-riding figure traveling across an unforgiving and uncaring landscape. These shots convey a sense of smallness, of human fragility amid the strength and inevitability of nature, itself something that should be marveled at and respected. But one shouldn’t expect to have a sense of geography, place, or time, necessarily. None of this matters to the greater themes being explored. Similarly, as Weston explores his mystery, concrete answers do little more than distract from the concepts that running from one’s problems doesn’t cause them to go away; rather, they fester, mutate, and can turn you into something unrecognizable. This is what grief does to us all, if we allow it to consume us.
Upon completion of Above & Within, things in filmmaking being what they are, I found myself wondering what the next steps would be for Hall and this story. Would it make more sense for this to be a calling card, a statement of the kind of storyteller Hall is and what can be accomplished with a small crew and imagination? Or what if this were to be an experiment to be transformed into a longer, feature-length tale? Whatever Hall does is going to be based on his experience, needs, and aspirations, but I hope that Above & Within remains as is, untouched, unelongated, clear, and precise. Some of the power of a good story is knowing exactly how long it needs to make an impact and all of that exists here. May the answers be damned and nothing else.
Screening during Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2024.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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