Billy (Shane Ryan) is spending his sixteenth birthday doing what
he’s done almost every other day in his short, lonely life — trying to come to grips with the death of his mother (Suzanne King).
Much of this short film is spent with Billy wandering around deserted places as he narrates what his life is like. When he is around other people, like his father (Rex Cobalt), it really sends the message home that he is alone in this life. It is depressing, but there is a painful release that lets viewers (and himself) off the hook … sort of. When you see how this teenager is finally freed from his isolation, you breathe the same kind of sigh of relief as you do when a long-suffering relative finally gives in to whatever disease is destroying him.
This is a downer of a film that should only be watched when one is feeling pretty good about life. There are no funny moments, and there is nothing in it that will reaffirm your faith in humanity, but it is a film that should be seen if only to realize what director/writer Shane Ryan is capable of achieving.
