Written and directed by Jessica Hinkson, a woman finds the strength to confront her greatest fear by relying on the comfort of strangers. Starring: Samora Smallwood, Prince Amponsah and Naomi Snieckus.
With the state of the world today, one of the things society seems to need and not have a lot of is compassion. We’re forever being surrounded by more and more hate, judgement, prejudice and overall negativity, so making a film like Sara provides a brief, wonderful respite from that doom and gloom. Its story deals with a lot of complex, messy and fearful emotions but at its heart it’s very simple, it’s exploring the idea of how little it costs to be mindful of other people and how much that can be worth.
Everyday you can be surrounded by strangers but have no clue what a single one of them is going through. So when they react strongly or rashly, you can give that energy back, or you can take a moment to consider that you don’t know that person’s situation and choose to be compassionate. That choice can then reverberate through that stranger’s entire day and it cost you absolutely nothing. The other side of that is being willing and open to give a stranger the space to help you, it’s not always easy to accept but a little bit of sympathy can go a long way.
Jessica Hinkson’s directorial style feels crafted around the idea of that mix of simplicity and complexity. It’s very everyday, never feeling a need to glamorise or stylise anything, it’s set in an airport and we all know that frustrating, tiring experience. There’s a big use of quiet mixed with outbursts of emotion and the angles and framing follow that pattern. The atmosphere leans into Sara’s (Samora Smallwood) moments of strife, creating a bigger tension and panic, then it relaxes and smooths itself out in the moments of calm.
A big part of why Sara does so well with the constantly changing nature of its emotions, is the performance from Samora Smallwood. She creates a character that we know very little about and yet she’s immediately relatable. Smallwood does such a great job of communicating her struggle, the inner pain, suffering and fear. So when she receives that kindness of strangers and breathes a sigh of relief, the viewers will too.
Those moments of generosity come in the form of firstly, Naomi Snieckus as Elena, working a thankless job, where she likely gets screamed at multiple times a day yet has impeccable customer service. You wouldn’t blame someone in her position for being snarky or short but Snieckus captures how she feels that on the inside but is caring on the outside. Part of the way she delivers that so well is with an edge of comedy which gives a nice variety to Sara’s tone.
Then comes Prince Amponsah’s Davey who is unbelievably sweet and charming, if you’re stuck waiting for a plane for hours, that’s the person you want to be stuck with. He has such a calming presence and a huge thoughtfulness. Not to mention how refreshing it is to see disabled characters in stories that aren’t about their disability. We are in dire need of better representation because it feels so rare for a disabled actor to get a role like this, which is a poor reflection of cinema today.
Sara is a touching and heart-warming exploration of compassion. Portraying just how much it can mean to choose kindness and sympathy, to give a stranger a moment of relief. It’s sweet but still completely grounded, it never becomes saccharine or happy-ending-esque. It respects the pain that began this story and that in turn deepens the impact of its compassion. Led by a moving performance by Samora Smallwood, incredible support from the endearing Prince Amponsah and a touch of comedy from Naomi Snieckus.
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