Gets Good Light is a short film that was due to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival of 2020. It is directed by Alejandra Parody and stars Jessica Pimental, Catherine Curtin, Cedric Leiba Jr., and Edmond Cofie. The short film has a pretty great cast and a solid story as it centers around an immigrant who has to hide his family and himself from the federals using a luxury condo business as refuge with the help of one the employees.
Upon my initial viewing a thing that stood out to me the most was the production design, the cinematography, and the music. The opening shot will draw viewers in as a somber cello piece acts as the undertone to really set the mood for the short film. Gets Good Light plays out as two separate stories of characters that intertwine and intermediately become one overall arcing story of courage and doing what’s right. The structure helps entice viewers to go along the journey to see how exactly they are connected as it weaves in and out. The use of open space makes us feel vulnerable and isolated. At any given moment something can go wrong.
It’s worth pointing out the acting and writing help Gets Good Light too. Each talent possessed some raw talent to really bring out the best of their character’s intentions and instead of relying on heavy exposition to convey how urgent and serious the overall conflict is in the movie, the filmmakers allow the film to tell the story itself. And for the most part that holds true, but there is something that holds the film back.
The only thing that stops Gets Good Light from really becoming something great is how sudden the short film ends. It doesn’t feel like there is ever a conclusion to the conflict and perhaps that’s how the filmmakers intended it to be. For me personally, I wanted to see more. I needed more closure than what was offered and the story doesn’t feel complete. And if the filmmakers wanted to leave us on a cliffhanger, there feels like it needs to have more set up, because it doesn’t feel like there was much of a cliff left for us to hang onto. It just ends and drops us off.
Aside from that, Gets Good Light is a short film I think others should watch if they are given a chance. It highlights socio-political issues that are extremely relevant in our climate and tells a damn compelling story with thrilling elements that boil under the skin. With great performances from a stellar cast, beautiful cinematography, and a haunting score Gets Good Light offers insight into a situation that some have become all too familiar with.