Pregnancy Test Short film review
★★★★
Written and Directed by: #MatthewSawyer
Starring: #EmilyRoseHolt and #JackMcGarry
Short film review by: Brian Penn
Of all the ways to test a relationship there can be nothing more destructive or explosive than children. The desire to procreate and start a family lies at the centre of our very existence. We desperately hope our partners want the same thing; one mind/two hearts travelling along life’s highway is the romantic ideal. Alas life is rarely that simple and can only pray we avoid the potholes. But what happens when two people want something different and love alone is not enough to keep them together. And what happens when one says ‘yes’ and the other simply shrugs ‘I don’t know’. The ultimate deal breaker is examined in this beautifully judged short feature by Matthew Sawyer.
Emma (Emily Rose Holt) is a twenty something desperate to start a family. She has been dating Lucas (Jack McGarry) but the warning signs are already there. She is convinced that Lucas doesn’t want children and feels the time has come to go their separate ways. However, in his own mind Lucas has not dismissed the idea of children he just doesn’t know for sure. Emma takes this as rejection of her most cherished wish. For her there are no half measures as they must want exactly the same thing. Their respective parents offer unique counsel on the way it felt when they went through the same travails. Life sometimes has the last laugh as the final scenes pack a richly ironic punchline.
What gives Pregnancy Test such poignancy is the cold reality that can destroy an otherwise happy relationship. Emma is set on children but will never tolerate the vagueness of Lucas and the feeling he’s just stalling. A ‘don’t know’ or ‘maybe’ will never be good enough for her. She doesn’t want to railroad him into parenthood if it’s not truly what he wants. These scenes are played out between couples the world over, and carry a universal message about what commitment really means. Before and after conversations give the piece a natural glow of realism to which everyone can relate.
