‘Mirror’ is a short film directed by James Mello about a divorced young mom named Emily who has struggled with the abuse and use of drugs leading her to be unfit as a mother to her young daughter Natasha. There’s a lot of messy themes surrounding the lives of the woman and her new partner Teddy. Both appear to have been broken in their lives. And both have not realized how to find a proper way to move forward without hurting the next person that becomes close to them in their lives.
Teddy and Emily became partners a few years after Emily finalized her divorce and has only spoken with her daughter Natasha over the phone recently. She reveals the story that her constant drug use and unreliability to show up for Natasha’s important events were more than enough for her to realize that she was in a constant traumatic mess with herself and had to remove herself from the family.
Emily had previously dated Teddy. With nowhere else to go, she decided reach out and to reunite with him, where she revealed her personal story to him. At the same time, Teddy also had his own story to share of his broken family as well. His family issues surrounded around how different he, his siblings, and parents were, which was his sister committing suicide. Emily’s issues were more about losing herself from her vices without knowing where else to go.
In the point of view of Emily, it appears she has the tendency to run back to her past where her vices were her good times. Be it the drugs, or her dates with Teddy. From the story she shared, she seems clearly traumatized in her life, and was searching for something positive in her life to focus on. In order to get away from her vices, she needed a companion, and Teddy was probably her closest contact she could go back to rebuilding a new life with.
Teddy himself is also a mess. His relationship with his siblings and parents is non-existent. They had a common pain to share from his sister’s suicide. Unfortunately, that pain caused a further wedge to the family instead of bringing them closer together.
As much as the scenes show that his reunion with Emily was a start of a new chapter, the film jumps forward to show that both of them haven’t fully healed from their trauma and pain. They may never will. And this part of the scene just shows that repeated cycle of Teddy’s sharing of the pain caused him to lose his loved ones, which is now happening with Emily.
The layers of pain between the two really showed the compounding of negativity being passed on to each other, hitting a point when a major life event is introduced to the already messed up relationship, they both had. Not to spoil what would happen next, but the stories they share foreshadow the historical events that were set up to repeat itself.
Teddy and Emily’s characters were convincingly screwed up in their lives. It felt like a very real situation that would happen where two broken people try to share their common pain, but forget that when stuff hits the fan, the next closest companion, which is each other, are going to get hurt the most. And those who are already in emotional pain, would likely not have the capacity to handle any more pain in their lives. What would happen next, is the mere thought of ending the pain, with suicide.
It’s a grim story. But a good reminder for the audience who watches this to take a step back and reflect on the pain and suffering they had in their lives. It’s a good reminder to reach out and show the compassion with their loved ones to ensure they feel safe in their lives and that there is at least someone out there that cares for them. The exchange of energy between two people is very real, whether positive or negative. Sharing the negative stories is fine, but finding the light between supporting each other and moving forward from the pain. James Mello created a very intricate story and the morals that negativity breeds negativity.