Bright Forests

In Chadwick Harman’s short film, Bright Forests, problems are never solved in an instant, and aliens always take their damn sweet time.

Forty years ago, scientist Christopher Isaacs (Jeffrey Larson) made contact with an alien intelligence light years away. The alien message was directed toward someone named Frank…not relevant a this moment. Christopher sends a response but because of the great distance the signal has to travel, he may not live long enough to hear back.

Jump to the present and Christopher is no longer alive. His project continues, headed by his daughter, Natalie (Victoria Kelleher), who was with him as a child when he first made contact. As Natalie patiently awaits the alien response, the government is not and threatens to withdraw funding.

“…because of the great distance the signal has to travel, he may not live long enough to hear back.”

Bright Forests is a beautifully visual short film that comes with a retro sci-fi color palette and stunning imagery (better than Asteroid City). The visuals and story all work together to present a very sci-fi idea about a scientist waiting decades for an out-of-this-world discovery and the varying degrees of waiting…and government resources to prove a universal mystery of life beyond the stars.

Like a good short film, it leaves you wanting more with unanswered questions…like life itself. Oh, those damn questions.