Bobby [Natalie Gavin, United Kingdom, 2020]

Natalie Gavin’s emotional debut film Bobby portrays an exhausted construction worker undergoing a mental crisis. The picture starts with the sound of someone whistling to the tune of Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ over a chaotic surrounding, giving us a sense of the calm before the storm. The storm breaks after we hear a loud bang from downstairs owing to an abrupt eruption of anger. The shot from the slightly opened door, where we first see our main character, seems to be a portrayal of Bobby’s everyday life; not seen, not heard.

In the scene that follows, Bobby, with tears in his eyes and bloody knuckles, makes a telephone call to his brother from his bathroom. The call ends up being not just a voicemail, but also a huge unloading of emotions that have been building up for quite some time. Destructive comparison and nostalgia for simpler times send Bobby into a state of great agony.

Shortly after he ends the call, we hear Bobby’s phone finally ringing back in a continuous loop. This, and Bobby’s final glance to the belt hanging from the bathroom door, imply a shocking and heartbreaking end to the film.

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'Bobby' was a film in consideration for Short Focus Film Festival 2020.