I worried a bit when first confronted with the central conceit of Hangman. I worried that its dark comedy would come across as too irreverent; that its aftermath would be too brutal; that its ending would be either too trite or too hopeless. I have no idea how, but it hit all its notes pitch-perfectly while handling one of the most sensitive, complex, and taboo issues in mental health: the aftermath of a suicide loss.
Main character Gwen, played masterfully by Sarah Rodenbaugh, emotes through her facial expressions without ever coming across as exaggerated or overwrought. As she passes through the stages of grief she captures nuanced emotions on the spectrum like the desperate energy to clean and organize that is part of denial or the theft of goat cheese that is part of bargaining. The film even manages to capture the thoughtful little details that you never see depicted in Hollywood versions of loss, like returning your deceased loved one’s overdue library books or donating their old clothes to a thrift shop. It’s a beautiful portrait of coping with the loss of a loved one, even broader than coping with a suicide loss.
If you think this all sounds like a lot for a 15-minute short film, you’d be right, yet the pacing seems completely on point, too. What has been done that is so right here, I think, is choosing a progression of very realistic scenes that are windows into grief we don’t usually see because they’re too intimate or messy or overlooked. Grief is complex; of course it’s sad, but sometimes it can be funny, sometimes it can be surreal, and sometimes it can even be boring. Hangman does grief justice by showing that each stage you pass through is not just defined by one thing.
The film is directed by Megan Brotherton, and is written by, produced, and stars Sarah Rodenbaugh, and their combined talent helps pull off the remarkable tonal balancing act that allows us to sometimes laugh at one of life’s largest and most enduring mental health challenges – the absurdity of coping with death.
Hangman is playing in Shorts Block No. 1 in the virtual festival, and our live Zoom interview with Sarah Rodenbaugh will be Saturday, October 14th, at 2:30 p.m.—anyone who wants to join the conversation can use this link! https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87363665914?pwd=OcfR0vx1rnkPbvbHpp7dT4Ulb0mLbx.1
Mental Filmness 