There’s no instruction manual for losing someone dear to you. Director Brian Keane’s short film Elsewhere drops us into a loving and devastated family where mourning is the houseguest you can’t wait to see leave.
It’s Roman’s (Michael Raver) birthday, and he wants nothing to do with it. The morning starts somberly in the bed he shares with his husband, Ben (Andy English). First a shower, breakfast, and not a single word. Roman is a writer, Ben is an artist, and the two of them are merely trying to exist after a devastating loss.
Roman is loved. Their neighbor Esme (Pooya Mohseni) checks in. Others try to rally around him, but he keeps pushing them away. The last thing Roman wants is to attend the birthday party planned later that evening. Before he can put a stop to it all, Roman’s sister, Becca (Leah Loftin), shows up at the front door on a mission. She’s there to clear out the baby’s room — untouched since the tragedy. What follows is the hardest part of grief: moving on.
Roman faces a birthday he wants nothing to do with in Elsewhere.
“Others try to rally around him, but he keeps pushing them away.”
In a world as diverse as it is, there are two things we all have in common: we are born, and we die. Not only do we experience the joy of birth together, but we also experience the pain of death together. Brian Keane and Michael Raver beautifully capture the heartbreak of loss and its devastating aftermath.
The most poignant part of the tale is the comparison between Roman and Ben: Ben is moving forward, which brings Roman pain and earns him our compassion. You want to say, “Get over it,” but you can’t, as we all must process these things differently.
As a film, I love the independent cinematic feel of Elsewhere. It feels like a movie while remaining painfully personal. The acting sometimes walks the line between authentic and performative, but for the most part, the cast nails it. In a world that wants to divide us, we must always remind ourselves that we are on this grand human adventure together, where we have more in common than not.
For more information, visit the Elsewhere official Instagram page.
"…You want to say, 'Get over it,' but you can't..."
