It feels as if “Wake” has come from a deep place in director Dan Marcus’s life and it shows in one of his first short features about a young man whose relationship with his parents may be damaged. And even worse, irreparable. That’s the genuine premise behind “Wake,” a movie that touches on what happens too often in this life. How we take for granted love and affection and view it as weakness and annoyance.
“Wake” stars two very good performers with Joshua Brail as the apathetic and lethargic Max who walks around thinking about the missed opportunities with his mother and the times in their lives where he had the chance to say so much more to her than was called for, but missed it. As he ventures in to a sink hole of despair and regret, going through different phases of grief venturing in to the large funeral home, his once distant dad Albert struggles to reach him. Following him around and viewing in a sense what Max views, as his life is shown to be nothing more than a series of wasted opportunities.
All in an effort to shield himself from a world of hurt that revolved around his father and his career that sucked up all of his time. By the time the film ends, “Wake” ponders on the notion that perhaps regret is only a reminder that we have one more chance with the people still in our lives, and that hope is not too far off from the cliff where we look back at our best and worst times. Director Dan Marcus’ short is filled with astute symbolism and metaphor and carefully lit shots that spotlight the particular emotions of the individuals presented in the story, and for all intents and purposes it’s a sharp film about grief and saying all that we have to say while our loved ones are still alive.