Filmmaking polymath John Paul Safford offers a singular vision in his striking and meditative short Everything Must Be Okay. As writer, director, cinematographer, and editor, he has painstakingly crafted a beautiful and melancholy landscape for his protagonist Alexis (Jessica Carradero). After her father passes away, Alexis reflects on their difficult relationship. As she processes her loss, she reevaluates her childhood and finds new understanding for her father’s issues.
Told entirely through voiceover narration, Safford’s script grapples with the clashing emotions that arise during the grieving process. In adulthood, Alexis can see the major events of her life with a new perspective. Her dad wasn’t there for her as a parent, but she has come to understand the obstacles that he was trying to overcome. And yet, while she is discovering newfound empathy for her father, she is still working through the pain that he caused. Early in the film, Alexis states, “grief is just love with no resolution.” Safford effectively shows that grief is made up of a myriad of conflicting feelings, all without the possibility of reconciliation. Alexis’s love for her dad is missing resolution, but so are her feelings of anger and abandonment. In losing him, she lost any chance for their relationship to grow or change. How do you reconcile all of the complicated things about a person after they’re gone, especially if things were left unsaid? And if you’re still angry or betrayed, does it make the loss any less painful?
Safford’s visual language shows Alexis’ life as littered with reminders of her father, both literal and figurative. The camera follows Alexis in the present, tracking her movements as she goes about her day. She is doleful as she appears in frame, listlessly revisiting family mementos, doing menial chores, and considering her own reflection in a minimalist home filled with stark whites and neutrals. Her present is punctuated with snapshots of her past, a sign or a business card giving context to a painful story recounted in her narration. Safford’s camerawork and editing evokes the sense of digging through one’s memory, rifling through Alexis’ past for meaning. She eventually finds her way to the beach, the screen popping with color as she visits a place that holds warm memories of her father.
Carradero holds her own while tackling an interesting challenge, simultaneously providing a moving silent performance and an affecting and empathetic soliloquy in voiceover. The two parts of her role are distinct but aligned, coming together to build a fuller portrait of Alexis’ grief. Carradero beautifully carries Alexis through a full emotional journey, pain crescendoing into catharsis as she reevaluates her past.
Everything Must Be Okay combines beautiful and contemplative cinematography with a cohesive and moving story. Safford has carefully crafted a heartfelt reflection on the pain of grieving an unresolved relationship.
