There are twelve steps to recovery, and each step is as long as it is courageous. There are setbacks along the way, but when you’ve reached that last step—it’s pure icing on the cake. The story of one man’s journey to that final step is the subject of Phillip Thomas’ Cake Day.
Today is an important day for Cameron (Cameron Crosby). It’s his Cake Day, and it commemorates five years of sobriety for him. There’s a cake waiting for him at his AA meeting that night. His sponsor (Steven Roberts) will be there to celebrate along with his now proud mother.
“Cameron has a massive problem…he is no longer five years sober…”
Cameron has a massive problem. As of last night, he is no longer five years sober as he allowed a moment of weakness to reset his clock, and he is the only one who knows it. Cameron is faced with either pretending his relapse didn’t happen and risk disappointing his sponsor and mother; or come clean and actually disappoint his sponsor and mother.
Through the short’s 15-minute runtime, the director has us walk along with Cameron on his long journey to a celebration he doesn’t deserve. Cake Day is a powerful exercise of building empathy by the filmmaker. Thomas brilliantly put us in his protagonist’s shoes and helps us understand the inner battle addicts have with their addictions and the deterioration of one’s soul to maintain integrity and honesty. He makes us feel, and that’s the power filmmakers have with short films.
"…helps us understand the inner battle addicts have with their addictions..."
