Matthew Price’s Bid is a short film about the distance between a parent’s love and a child’s need to be seen as something more than just their kid. It’s a small story told with a lot of heart.
Older teen Brianna (Nikko Austen Smith) isn’t asking for much — just a solo trip to Toronto to visit her new university. But before she can even make her case, her mother, Macy (Phylicia Wissa), has already shut her down. The tension fills the car before they’ve even made it out of the driveway, Macy’s overprotectiveness pressing down on Brianna like a second seatbelt. They arrive at a Thanksgiving gathering, and all their friends and family are buzzing with the news that Brianna has been admitted to a prestigious college.
Having had enough of her mother, Brianna sneaks into the backroom where the men are playing the game of Spades. She asks if she can play, and the men tell her the stakes are pretty high. What they don’t know is that Brianna has skills.
“Brianna sneaks into the backroom where the men are playing the game of Spades.”
Bid is a touching story of a mother having a hard time letting go. I get it. As a parent, I get it. Our children are the most important part of a parent’s life, and the last thing you want to do is let them go. Then one day, they surprise you with some uninitiated adulting.
As a story, Price captures that mother/daughter tension between safety and freedom. I love that it comes through a backroom game of Spades and how unexpected the mother’s reaction is. Kudos to Nikko Austen Smith and Phylicia Wissa for two smart and endearing performances.
At ten minutes, Bid digs right into the heart of the matter. Price leaves you thinking about the moment every parent dreads — when their kid stops needing them quite so much.
"…I get it. As a parent, I get it."
