Braking for Whales

Movie, 2020, Unrated

Premise - Two siblings with a volatile relationship reunite after the death of their mother. During the will reading, it is revealed that the only way they can inherit their mother's assets is to embark on a road trip together to bury her ashes in the body of a whale in under 48 hours.


Review - It's a shame that I don't believe this film will ever truly find its audience. It's so small, so low budget, and so unrecognized - it doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page. And that pains me, because when I watch this film with such love, I wonder how many other small indie projects out there have never crossed my radar, but could have been favorites.

I genuinely loved this film. Although, I believe it received its rough share of reviews, and I can understand why. This film is intimate conversation after intimate conversation after intimate conversation. It's a road trip, not much happens, and it really comes down to the two characters interacting. For me, personally, I am a SUCKER for that kind of character exploration, so I loved it. There was also just enough plot so that the film always feels like it's moving forward, despite its slowness. I would say, as far as pacing, some scenes were dragged out too long, and that was my main (and perhaps only) issue with the film. These character interactions are also very quirky, perhaps inappropriately so given the context of burying your mother, which also may have been off-putting for folks. But I loved the dark humor of it all.

The film also has some very fascinating political overtones, as it takes place on a road trip throughout middle America. They are SURROUNDED by social conservatives of the WORST kind. And Star, the sister, rebels as far from that as possible. Brandon, the brother, on the other hand, tries desperately to conform to Jesus and conservatism to the point that it's killing him from the inside out, as he tries to "pray the gay away." The social and political tension this causes between the two siblings is painful, and so intriguing to watch unfold.

I'm also not going to lie, I'm heavily biased by the fact that the lead actor in the film was Tom Felton. That is how I discovered the film. Tom Felton has acted in a wide variety of television and films, most of which I have ignored due to his small part or my own lack of interest in the subject matter. But Tom Felton as the lead in an indie dark comedy buddy film? Hell yeah. I loved seeing him act as the good guy as well, instead of the villain. (90/100)

Quote - "Perfection, true perfection, is not when there's nothing more to add. It's when there's nothing left to take away." "And that means?" "Fuck if I know."

What to watch for - I don't know what the correct term for this is, but the range of focus on the camera is so incredibly narrow in each scene that only a small fraction of each frame is in sharp focus. It's a stylistic choice that I think worked in the film's favor as it makes the interactions and happenings on screen even more intimate. There was also a lot of fun indie music.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Little Miss Sunshine!

Directed by Sean McEwen
Distributed by GravitasVOD