I Am Whole is a coming-of-age story about a girl starting to find her voice while struggling with the pressures of growing up too fast from her peers and social media.
This short film has the style of a high-end perfume advert, but heavily grounds itself in the narration, making it a standout story that sticks with you, where a short video of the same style may appear vain. Like all coming-of-age films, we’re transported to a dreamy version of real life where sun always shines in through the windows and wind blows delightfully through hair as the perfect kiss takes place. The visuals use warm tones to amplify day to day life and how, as we’re growing up, we fall further away from the warmth of innocence. It’s a question that most people ask themselves, is becoming an adult worth it? To lose peace and simple happiness, to pick up pain and heartbreak. What we see on social media and hear our friends doing pushes us in ways that we don’t always want to go, and Bianca Poletti has captured all those thoughts in this heaven-like way through her story and direction.
The poetry accompanying the glorious images is written and spoken by Nikki Lorenzo, her voice and words doing wonders to sum up what most people feel like growing up in a digital age. The two-and-a-half-minute run time is a perfect snapshot into love and life, with a soundtrack by Emilie Mosseri running parallel. Even watching with eyes closed, the audio in this short film is enough to leave a mark on the listener.
The main character we mostly stick with through I Am Whole is a girl starting her journey into adulthood. Using Kayla Hoff’s fantastic cinematography, we can see into her mind and thoughts, and in a way, see our own. The shots and situations are kept simple and to the point, magnifying the feelings of growing up and everything our brains go through during this weird time.
As separate pieces, all the work on this short film is gorgeous, but together it creates something so powerful that leaves you thinking about your own growing up in a way so different from what we know and expect in a film like this.