A young girl’s mental health is pushed to the limit whilst she tries to become relevant on her social media channel in James Dubbeldam’s short I Am ______.
We recently found ourselves lucky to be given the opportunity to watch and review the short film Your Worst Enemy. Directed by James Dubbeldam, we gave the imaginative film a good score and our recommendation. Now, not a week later, we have another of Dubbeldam’s creations – I Am ______.
The effect social media has had on the young generation is obvious to those who have children, or those who simply use sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. These kids are pushing themselves with videos and photographs in order to gain likes and follows so that they can feel relevant and loved. We see different trends often, albeit dance routines, pranks, and even violent acts, and for what? An image of a thumbs-up? The pressure that children, teens, and young adults put themselves under for recognition is a lot, and sometimes too much, driving them to do more ridiculous things or even self-harm.
Dubbeldam’s I Am ______ focuses on a young teen (Natalie Soto Cuzin) as she constantly records herself on her phone so she can upload the videos to a social media page. In the videos, she addresses the camera like a blogger or news reporter from the comfort of her bedroom. Topics such as climate control, keeping up with fashion and diet fads, and money troubles are the usual fare, but as the film goes on, it’s clear to see that her mental health is becoming severely damaged whilst she pushes herself to become more popular.
James Dubbeldam’s film, which comes in at just over six minutes in length, has a message and it strikes the right chord. Even though the film is shown in its entirety inside the girl’s bedroom, it never gets boring, and this is due to the performance topic and Dubbeldam’s editing choices. We go from full screen of the bedroom, then the aspect ratio changes in front of our very eyes to something that resembles the portrait mode of a phone’s camera. Then, as the girl becomes more mentally unstable, the edit becomes more frantic along with the camera angles. It works.
Natalie Soto Cuzin does remarkably well as the girl. With a fake smile, she addresses the camera, her followers, and ourselves with personal thoughts and news, hoping for a simple click of the like button. We feel for her. We want to sit her down and talk to her. Try and make her see sense. To make us feel like this within just six minutes is quite an achievement. In Your Worst Enemy, Cuzin had a small role as a street vendor, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her front and centre here.
Now that we have watched two of James Dubbeldam’s short films, we can positively say that he is a filmmaker with imagination and skill. He also seems to be someone who isn’t afraid of taking risks and doing things a little differently. Those are traits of directors who stand out. Long may it continue.
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