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USA, 2008, 93 Min Directed by TONY BARBIERI East Coast Premiere |
Ever made eye contact with someone from across the room and wondered what the future could be like in a relationship with them? Josh Weathers (Nathan Wetherington) did just that, and he and Amanda "Em" Helms (Stef Willen) actually start an amazing life together. After that chance meeting, they spend a night, read poetry in bed, and move in together; however, their love takes a nasty turn for the worse as Amanda's past starts to rear its ugly head. When she lands in the hospital, Josh desperately finds himself willing do anything to keep Amanda and their love healthy. Whereas mental illness is usually portrayed in films in an easy cut-and-paste style, Willen's performance as the unstable Amanda stands out without being cliché and predictable--all the more impressive considering that this is her on-screen debut. The scary reality of bi-polar disorder and the cascading challenges to its victims and those who love them makes Tony Barbieri's masterfully composed film truly haunting. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Seattle Film Festival, EM was called "one of the spookiest and most intimate films in the festival" and "a 21st Century variation on Hitchcock's Vertigo" by Seattle Times critic John Hartl.
