Losing Grace Review

Losing Grace is a 2021 short film written and directed by Athena Mandis.

Weaving together notes of a coming-of-age story with the veneer of an escapist thriller, Losing Grace is a beautifully made short that conveys an important message of domestic justice at its core.

To get any small nitpicks out of the way right away, there are two things that must be mentioned. The first being the decision to have the harpist whose instrument is heard most prominently in the film seen on screen. The second being a moment of slow-motion footage toward the climax of the film. These are both subjective, but personally neither landed strongly here. Slow motion on 24fps footage will forever look too choppy, and having a musician playing the score on screen just brings up memories of comedy films like There’s Something About Mary much too quickly.

That out of the way though don’t mistake that this film is anything but great, because it absolutely is. The cinematography by Beatriz Delgado Mena is amazing in every scene, with just so much balance achieved throughout. The editing from Erik Moore contains a wonderful pace to it all. Musical compositions by Donna McKevitt carry the extra hits of emotion wonderfully, and sound mixing from Erik Moore is spot on.

The acting as well is excellent with Liz Farahadi as Louise bringing a heartfelt performance and adding so much depth to a mother desperate to escape a brutal life. The supporting cast stays just as strong, though with not a weak performance at all. An obvious amount of thought went into the casting.

There is a substantial amount of production value all around in this film and it shows in every scene. Mandis and her team have put a lot of care into this piece and shows from start to finish.

Overall Losing Grace is easy to recommend, outside of the strange personal nitpicks here as mentioned before this is a strong showcase of talent in front of and behind the camera. The entire crew put a lot of work here and it deserves a viewing.

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Film Festival and Award Highlights:

The London Independent Film Festival – Audience Award for Best Short

Chicago Indie Film Awards – Best Female Director

Independent Shorts Awards – Best Drama Short

Show Low Film Festival – Best Short

WRPN Women’s Film Festival – Best of Fest Award

Selected to over 15 festivals to date

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