Where would you be at the end of the Earth? Will you be with the loved ones? Would you find your soul-mate? This is what’s happening in Shawn Christensen’s 2010 short Brink. That name may seem familiar. At least I hope he is. In 2013, this Christensen scooped up the Academy Award for Best Short for his stirring and incredible piece Curfew. If you can, I urge you to download it now because frankly it is alarming endearing and wonderfully poignant. However, before Curfew shot him to fame, he directed this intensely beautiful short Brink.
Brink revolves around Jeremy who writes a long love letter to his best friend Evelyn. As he struggles on whether or not he should post it, the Earth is facing a catastrophic event that will erase the human race. Pulling Brink from what could have been stale cheesy romantic drama, it elevates (pun intended) it up into a dreamscape fantasy. Apart from the intense narration at the beginning of the movie, there is minimal dialogue.
Using intricate types of camera shots and intense moments that could only be caught in space, the movie burns with this delicate heart that feels fantastical yet seriously real. Christensen captures something magical and then uses clever techniques to pull you further in. Drenched in enormous beauty and a fragile premise, Brink is a divine short film.
