Our Curse

"Our Curse" is the final film in the Oscar-nominated documentary shorts show and is about a young and extremely depressed couple whose baby has a god-awful congenital breathing difficulty. If the child is not hooked up to a breathing machine that breaths for him while he's sleeping, he will die. Also the equipment this Polish couple uses seems to need a lot of upkeep, it's loud and it breaks down with little warning. As a result, the parents just look haggard and depressed and their lives are dominated by all this. Each time you see the father, he seems to be drinking something alcoholic and your heart goes out to the couple. It also makes you think about quality of life issues and is definitely a film that will hit you hard emotionally. Fortunately, by the end, the couple seem a bit less worn and depressed and the baby has survived to its first birthday and is a pretty child...but also still quite ill.