Suffering from a chronic illness, Riley starts to reach her breaking point in the moving short film Invisible by Ryan Nunes.
Early this year (January to be exact) we had the pleasure of viewing and reviewing the short film After The Beep (Read Here) by Ryan Nunes – an enjoyable four-minute short about a man who attempts to contact his estranged father to wish him well over the holiday season. Now, Nunes returns with a bigger short (not just runtime but scope) entitled Invisible.
With a runtime of just over eight minutes, Invisible begins with a shot of Riley (Madison Shmalo) as she talks about living with an invisible chronic illness to a small group in a therapy session. We then see her go about her daily life, struggling whilst working for a delivery service alongside her colleague Jack (Paul Kandarian), and alone in her home, breaking down on the floor, scared of what her future holds, or what little her future will hold.
Whilst that doesn’t seem like a lot to take in for a film, Nunes is wise to show many shots of Riley as she attempts to make a life of what she is dealt with; dialogue is heard over montages of scenes, as she delivers more parcels, laughs with Jack and cries with worry and panic. It is quite moving and it makes you think.
Madison does really well in her role as Riley, she’s likable and she helps make the audience feel for her and want her to overcome the battle she is undertaking. Whilst Paul Kandarian’s role is obviously much smaller than Madison’s, he utilizes what screen time he has and plays her colleague and friend very well too. He offers words of advice and a shoulder to cry on to Riley with such empathy that we wouldn’t have minded seeing a little more of him.
The cinematography, also by director and writer Ryan Nunes, is crisp thanks to being shot in Ultra High Definition. He uses Natural light throughout and it kind of reminded us of the work of Jody Lee Lipes in the 2016 award-winning feature Manchester By The Sea which starred Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams.
So, we have seen two short films in 2013 by Ryan Nunes and both have been of a high standard. We are hoping we have the pleasure of seeing more of his work in the near future. Certainly one to look out for.
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