Written and directed by Maya Avidov, co-written by Joseph Andrew, when Brian (James Graeme) returns to home after being released from prison he’s confronted by his daughter Deborah (Hannah Steele). Their terse exchange reveals what lies beneath their heartache and anger caused by the death of the missing matriarch.
A huge sign of the quality to Maya Avidov’s direction is that if you walked into What We Share knowing absolutely nothing about it, you could still immediately feel every thematic point it’s exploring from the atmosphere alone. Right from the first shots you can sense the melancholy, the loneliness and the grief, it’s palpable and absorbing. Avidov’s style is strong throughout, there’s a great variety to the shots and the cinematography hits a grounded but pensive note. It also employs a clever and prominent use of silence, it allows its characters to simply stew within these complex emotions, which was a great choice.
It sets itself up perfectly for the intense feelings and tension that James Graeme and Hannah Steele bring to the table. That instant conflict is well done and the way that they deliver the dialogue allows for an interesting evolution to their relationship, while never really changing their positions. It’s an airing of grievances, calling for the two of them to really throw years of unspoken emotions at each other, and both Graeme and Steele do a brilliant job of bringing that to life. Capturing a strained, resentment-filled relationship, before you even really get to dig into the dialogue and within such a brief time is not an easy thing to do but they do it well.
There’s an interesting blend of simple family drama and complex social issues, which again is something that’s a lot to take on within a brief runtime but Maya Avidov and Joseph Andrew manage to do justice to both aspects. It’s striking that balance of establishing the issue without a need to get into the nitty gritty of it, the writing does a good job of implying enough detail without overtly saying it. The only point which may be divisive is the ending, it’s very open and may be considered a touch blunt by some but at the same time, Avidov and Andrew are leaving space for you to think about each perspective as it fades to black.
What We Share is impactfully and emotionally shot, it holds a powerful atmosphere of grief and conflict. James Graeme and Hannah Steele inject a gripping amount of tension, throwing themselves intensely into this complicated dynamic. The story is compelling, it’s a tricky issue to tackle in less than a dozen minutes but Avidov and Andrew manage that challenge well. It’s filled with a lot of confidence, it moves in a way that knows when to pack a punch and when to let the visual and atmosphere speak for themselves.
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