The virtual festival is still up for one more week! That’s enough time to watch all of these films, and I will keep up our coverage of them, plus more interviews are coming down the pipeline (including this weekend).
The Serve is a masterful look into a psychological phenomenon (the “yips”) that I had never even heard of. In fact, mental health in athletics is an important topic that I’m surprised not many of our submissions have addressed. The main character in The Serve is a seasoned tennis player who has been praised for his mastery of the sport. However, his physical prowess is disrupted by the psychological phenomenon of “the yips,” causing his body to fumble under the mental toll of pressure and high expectations.
The Serve makes a lot of smart choices, like introducing the yips through the main player’s anxious Googling about whether or not they are real, and sports commentators chronicling the player’s missteps like the voices he hears in his head. The lead character never speaks, but his facial expressions are emotionally effective, and anxiety-inducing cuts, angles, and flashbacks do an excellent job of putting the audience inside his head and flailing body. The film’s ending feels hopeful without being trite, reminding us that sometimes we need to go back to the simple joy of what drove us to our passions to relieve some of the stress that comes with being the best at them.
Don’t miss The Serve, now playing for FREE in Shorts Block No. 1 of the virtual festival: The Serve | Mental Filmness 2025
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