There’s no moment during the relatively brief time of Play Date – a short that’s as much about grief and how you exist in it as it is about how you move on from it – where you don’t feel uncomfortable about looking at these feelings head-on. That’s the thing about grief, really. Even when you’ve felt it, and grief is one of those universal unifiers, in some way shape, or form, we’ve all felt it, you never want to look too closely at what it means for others.
And yet, it is because of that lack of comfort and because of what it makes you reckon with, that Play Date is as effective as it is at saying so much more than what a short can actually convey. Because Play Date doesn’t have the time to talk about anything other than what these two women are going through, and in truth, it barely even does that. How do you even describe grief, after all? It is such a personal thing. It’s easier to let everyone fill in their own blanks.
In that “fill your own blanks” though, there are very powerful messages, that every viewer can pull from. About gun control, perhaps. About trauma. About the importance of therapy. And, of course, about the decisions we make, the ones that feel so very little, but that in the end will shape the course of our lives – and the lives of others.
In this regard, Play Date isn’t about the two girls who aren’t there anymore, it is entirely about the two women who are, and about how they can find a way to still exist without what’s missing. Because grief, in so many ways, is about that. Sure, it’s about the pain, but at some point, it’s also about finding a way to exist without the part of you that’s gone. And that’s so hard. So painful. But so much easier to do when there’s someone who understands exactly what you’re going through.
And healing is very much not linear. Amberlee Colson and Laura Campbell masterfully convey that in a short that is breaming with meaning even when it’s not actually saying anything. But it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to adhere to anyone else’s rules. You just have to let yourself feel and accept that it’s okay to …not be okay. To have a birthday party for your daughter who isn’t around anymore. To let two girls who aren’t around anymore have a playdate.
Even if that ends up turning into one for their mothers, who somehow, have to find a way to keep living.
Play Date world premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival in April where it won the Grand Jury Prize as well as the Audience Award for Best Short. It was also screened at the Hollyshorts Film Festival.
