Joey’s thoughts travel far, very far from his friends with whom he shares the locker room; he is having a moment of introspection, he has a revelation about the deep secret he is hiding. But when temptation rushes in he will lose control for good: over his actions, over his emotions and eventually over his life.
Gage Oxley’s short film ‘This World We Live In‘ is one of the most intense and rough cinematic moments we’ve been given the chance to experience. Watching Joey struggling with his own condition, running away from himself and trying hard to save appearances is engaging and heartbreaking as much as it is embarrassing and hurting. The viewer is instantly drawn in by the protagonist’s monologue and very soon assaulted by an acute feeling of vice and guilt. He is unable to accept himself as much as he is unable to accept the world’s reaction to his true self. Gage Oxley’s story is like a lie coming alive like its repercussions materialising. The sentiment becomes so reachable and tactile that one can sense its texture, its smell, its taste; and it is not pleasant. Beyond anything else the director gives us a hard lesson about what embracing a lie truly means and where it eventually leads.
The story is assisted by confident directing, good cinematography and fit music that before matching the amount of pain reflected by the story rather confers the feeling of a bitter relief from an inerasable regret. Combine the above with a totally committed Jack Parr and his mesmerising performance and you get a haunting film hard to forget.
‘This World We Live In’ is raw and acute. Its emotion is chronic and once emerged doesn’t let go. It is tensed like the feeling of being exposed and shocking like the uncensored truth. In the end this is what you get as a viewer: uncensored, unprocessed honesty.
Gage Oxley’s film is truly one of a kind. The director’s focus on delivering things in such a straightforward manner wraps tightly around the audience making them part of Joey’s reality. Not to be missed but don’t say we didn’t warn you!
TMFF RATING:
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