In a world of WikiHow articles, sometimes a mysterious voice is what we need to help us with something. In Sydney Nicole Herauf’s short film Breaking Up for the Modern Girl, a voice on a tape is the guide a young heartbroken girl needs, or is it?
This anthropological satire really is something fresh and exciting compared to the typical Netflix films about breaking up. To feel instantly pulled into the story and have no clue where it might take us was a wonderful feeling, as most teen romance films can feel so predictable, that I can tell you how it ends before we’ve even pressed play. I loved this new take, looking at things from the perspective of a girl power article, or even something that a man had written, encouraging modern girls to use this time to heal, and then return to the hunting ground.
Written and directed by Sydney Nicole Herauf, the world we enter is an odd one where colour and lights are everything, yet the personality of others is nothing. I liked how the star of the film, played by Mattie Driscoll, was an individual in this world surrounded by random folk, yet I feel like any girl, or person for that matter, could relate to her. Whether wanting to change everything about yourself, or just crawl into a hole, breakups do something different for everyone, and I’m so glad that this film allowed everyone to have their story be touched upon, even if it was only for a brief moment.
The music and editing really punched up this film to the next level for me. I appreciate when things are out of the box and exciting compared to just typical editing and film traits. This film really used all that to its advantage, really carving out a space for itself in the short film sector.
Imagining things, I can really see this as a TV series, really hooking the viewer to their screen like glue, wanting to follow the girl on our screen as a metaphorical version of ourselves. I think I have fallen in love with this wild film, electrified with coolness and creativity. Whatever happens with this idea next, I’m really glad that I’ve been able to see it in this version, and if you are still reading whatever this is and you haven’t watched it yet, what are you doing? GO!