A woman visits a beach on the anniversary of her deceased child’s birth in the melancholic short film Before I Sleep by director Victoria Shefer. Check out our thoughts.
Coming in at just six minutes in length, Before I Sleep is a short film with just one actor narrating the poem entitled Stopping by Wood on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. While the aforementioned description may not sound involving for the viewer, the imagery is actually captivating. It is wonderfully shot.
Dressed in Victorian clothes, Ms. Barrow (played by Lee Rayne) has visited a beach on the birthday of her child who tragically died years prior. With a small blanket lay down on the ground, Ms. Barrow steps close to the edge of a cliff, contemplating joining her child who drowned in the very same waters.
Bravely, she steps away from the cliff edge and begins to bury more mementos of her child’s life in a little chest. Seemingly ready to steer away from her suicidal thoughts, and make the most of the life that she has been given.
An emotional score is provided by composer Daniel Dalby, all the while Lee Rayne provides the narration of Robert Frost’s 1923 poem. A slight gripe, I thought the levels of the dialogue were a little too low and sometimes drowned under the volume of Dalby’s stirring score, but that’s just a small gripe.
As mentioned above, the cinematography for Before I Sleep is exquisite, perfectly capturing the heartbreak that Ms. Barrow has suffered whilst traversing along an empty beach. What makes it even more amazing, is that this short film was shot with just a two-woman crew. Yes, you read that right, the crew only consisted of two people, both women. Director Victoria Shefer also took up cinematographer duties, whilst Yeonji Han was the production assistant. To be able to capture such beauty with just two people is nothing short of outstanding.
Emotional and just as poetic as Frost’s poem itself, Before I Sleep is an interesting and artistic six minutes worthy of your time.
