A few days after the Twin Tower attacks on 9/11, a teenage boy of Middle-Eastern descent struggles with fear and isolation amidst rising prejudice in Kayvon Derak Shanian’s drama Living In Fear.
It’s September 2024 and it has been merely weeks since the UK was besieged by a wave of racist rioting, after false information and bigoted prejudice reached boiling point. Years of the press and right-wing commentators vilifying minorities led to the worst scenes of public disorder in the UK for over 40 years. So “Living in Fear,” a short 16-minute film by Kayvon Derak Shanian about a similar subject couldn’t have come to us at a more appropriate time.
Living In Fear takes us back to the days following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre Towers in New York, initially showing us a Middle-Eastern father, Reza (Arash Mokhtar), advising his teenage son, Cameron (Nour Jude Assaf), to be careful because he now lives in an America suddenly filled with suspicion. Despite the film being about hiding and the heavy cost of being looked at with distrust and fear, the story itself is a heartfelt and often painful look at the paranoia and prejudice that followed 9/11, seen through the eyes of the young man who takes his father’s advice “keep your head down” to the extreme.
A year later, we discover Cameron has isolated himself completely with his life now confined to his bedroom, a guitar his only comfort, and his mother Julie (Kathleen Wilhoite) his only teacher. The outside world that he once knew is now terrifying to him, with even an ordinary encounter like someone leaving a shop triggering a panic attack.
As the director and writer, Shanian tells this story with a powerful simplicity. He shows how fear quietly grows and takes over, shaping Cameron’s world in ways that feel both extreme and real. The film is not about the big events we see on the news, but about what happens afterward—how life is changed forever for those who are caught in its aftermath.
Visually, the film looks impressive for an indie short. Cinematographer Ethan Chu uses lighting and colour to mirror Cameron’s feelings of being trapped and anxious. The story is told in a way that respects the viewer’s attention, and the performances are strong throughout. Nour Jude Assaf captures Cameron’s fear and frustration with honesty, while Kathleen Wilhoite, who I remember very well as the sassy barmaid Carrie in the Patrick Swayze classic Roadhouse, as his mother, brings a warmth and strength that everyone would want their parents to have in spades.
“Living in Fear” also looks at mental health but it is more than a story about a young man dealing with anxiety. It’s a plea for understanding, asking us to see how fear and prejudice can deeply affect those who face it. Shanian doesn’t give us easy answers. Instead, he asks us to feel the discomfort and see the world through Cameron’s eyes—a place filled with fear and misunderstanding, but also a little bit of optimism.
By the end of “Living in Fear,” you’re left with a mix of sadness and hope. The film reminds us that fear can shape lives in ways we may not fully grasp, and overcoming it is a journey that takes an awful lot of effort. It’s a timely film asking us to look beyond our fears and see the human beings affected by them.
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