Quarantine and lockdown during the pandemic have not been easy, but I don’t have to tell you that. It’s been particularly difficult for a lot of us. Stephen and Angela Bell’s short film, 400 Days Later, is the story of Natalie (Angela Bell), an actor whose play was shut down due to COVID and how she copes with the “New Normal.”
“…an actor whose play was shut down due to COVID.”
Over the next 400 days, we become a fly on the wall as Natalie must isolate alone in her apartment, accompanied only by her dog. In silence, Natalie must cope with sequestration and solitude along as she must come to grips with the closing of her play and left with no options to pursue her burgeoning acting career. A brief moment of sanity arrives with a socially distant conversation with her good friend, Juliet (Madeline Leon). Natalie keeps her feelings close to her vest as Juliet talks about how fortunate she’s been.
400 Days Later hits on the themes of the isolation and uncertainty of the future that we’ve experienced this past year. It also examines the value we place not only on our right to survive but on living as well. Running at under ten minutes, director Stephen Bell and writer Angela Bell effectively tell Natalie’s story all through body language and casual dialogue. Her story is poignant and offers hope as we once again return to life.
"…poignant and offers hope..."
