"Alles wird gut" or "Everything Will Be Okay" is a German/Austrian co-production from last year (2015) that resulted in a half-hour live action short film that managed to impress awards bodies all over the planet. The movie is entirely in German language, so you may want to get subtitles. The writer and director is Patrick Vollrath, who has been writing and directing short films since 2009 already, bus this one here is easily his biggest success so far. And the reason is that his effort was nominated for an Academy Award. And even if he lost to "Stutterer", it is still a great achievement. This is the story of a desperate father who tries to fly out of the country with his young daughter because his ex-wife is about to assure he does not get to see her daughter anymore. Is the title true and will everything really be okay eventually? Watch for yourself and do not keep reading this review if you want to avoid spoilers.
The sad thing about this short film is that even if the daughter is safe that there are really only losers eventually here, most of all the father and also the daughter because this day was probably a traumatic event that she will always remember. I think Simon Schwarz does a pretty good job, but that's no surprise looking at his long and successful career. The child actress is Julia Pointness and she gives one of the best child performances of 2015 for sure. Her work should not be discredited because it is "only" a short film. The best thing about the film is probably the emotional moment when Schwarz' character confesses at the end that he has nobody and nothing besides her in life. The weakest moment is perhaps when the daughter tells him that he has to admit that he made something wrong and regret it. This did not feel like an authentic kid's reaction at that point. Overall, however, the good outweighs the bad and I am fine with the film's Academy Award nomination. It's maybe not good enough to win, but then again it's at least as good as the winner I mentioned earlier. Plus, the subject here (fathers' rights) is probably a lot more relevant. Go see it! You will not be disappointed.
The sad thing about this short film is that even if the daughter is safe that there are really only losers eventually here, most of all the father and also the daughter because this day was probably a traumatic event that she will always remember. I think Simon Schwarz does a pretty good job, but that's no surprise looking at his long and successful career. The child actress is Julia Pointness and she gives one of the best child performances of 2015 for sure. Her work should not be discredited because it is "only" a short film. The best thing about the film is probably the emotional moment when Schwarz' character confesses at the end that he has nobody and nothing besides her in life. The weakest moment is perhaps when the daughter tells him that he has to admit that he made something wrong and regret it. This did not feel like an authentic kid's reaction at that point. Overall, however, the good outweighs the bad and I am fine with the film's Academy Award nomination. It's maybe not good enough to win, but then again it's at least as good as the winner I mentioned earlier. Plus, the subject here (fathers' rights) is probably a lot more relevant. Go see it! You will not be disappointed.