“Blink” shows that even though you may be having a bad day, there is someone out there whose day is far worse than yours can ever be. The nameless woman (Deborah Vancelette) at the center of this film doesn’t know that at the beginning, but she learns it by the end, and we’re all supposed to be touched by her plight.
If anything, this short film just goes by too fast. Nothing ever gets a chance to sink in, and that’s why it loses a lot of its punch (though my guess is that Vancelette, who is also the writer and director, wanted it that way because she thought it would work better). The woman feels terrible because she didn’t take the time to fix a horrible situation, but in all fairness, she never knew what was going on. Her guilt just doesn’t work for us because she feels worse than we think she should. Perhaps if there were a greater build-up we’d empathize with her. What we need is more time, and the character needs more chances to redeem herself or turn a blind eye to what is going on around her. Instead, we are witness to a simple mistake that probably wouldn’t even register in most people’s minds. Watch for Vancelette in the future, though. She knows how to construct a good tale … though this one wasn’t quite good enough.
