Caroline

"Caroline" is a gripping short film co-directed and written by Celine Held and Logan George. Over the course of 12 blood-pumping minutes, the film provokes a debate about the clash between individual and societal morals. Based on true events, the film follows the titular character, Caroline, as she and her two younger siblings are left in a vehicle on a sweltering day while their struggling and single mother attends a job interview.

The film starts in medias res as the mother (Celine Held) desperately searches for a babysitter after her intended babysitter bails at the last minute. Although it is clear the mother is trying to do her best under the circumstances, she ultimately makes a choice to task her eldest daughter, Caroline (Caroline Falk), with supervising her younger siblings in the car while she goes into a strip mall for the interview.

Although leaving young children in a hot car is dangerously wrong, the situation is presented in such a way that the audience can sympathise with the mother's position. Cinematic and theatrical effects such as diegetic sound, close up shots and shaky camera movement make the realistic portrayal of the situation even more believable. The mother clearly loves her children and desperately needs this job to support them but has been put between a rock and a hard place with no help from the state or from friends and family.

Nevertheless the minute the mother leaves her children in the car the audience knows that the situation will not end well and nail biting drama unfolds from there.

No wonder this short has won so many awards, it is a brilliant made film. So intensive and filled with emotion, what all films should be!

The film focuses on a young girl named Caroline who is left in a boiling hot car with her two youtube siblings, although leaving your kids in a car with no AC on a hot Texas summer day is always a no go, the mothers unfortunate situation allows us to sympathise with her. The film starts showing a stressed and desperate mother trying her best to take care of her kids but also desperately needing a job. When the mother goes to drop off the kids the sitter is not present so making the best of the situation she takes the kids with her and leaves Caroline the keys in case the car gets too hot. When the car starts to heat up Caroline can't start the car so she does her best to take responsibility and care for her sibling until her mom gets back. After another set of parents sees the kids in the car tensions start to rise, you get increasingly more anxious and stressed wondering what's going to happen as everything continues to spiral down hill.

The film did an amazing job at keeping your attention because you just want something to go right and seeing the children crying and sweating gets you emotionally involved. Everything that happens makes you feel uneasy and stressed and seeing it all from Caroline's perspective just amplifies that, between the excessive sweating and the passerbyers muffled talking and tapping on the window makes you feel trapped and helpless. My only criticism is that at some points the crying and sweating was overdone and it was just hard to watch and made me uncomfortable. I would definitely recommend this to a mature audience due to how unsettling some aspects of the film can be but overall it was a fantastic film.

12 minutes of tension and uncertainty heightened by the blazing sun and the intermittent cries from the children. The short film "Caroline" follows of a young girl, Caroline, as her desperate mother is forced to leave her and her siblings alone in an attempt to secure a job during her job interview. Her mother leaves them in the car during a hot summer day. The issue arising when their babysitter does not pick them up as planned and they are instead approached by a stranger with unknown intentions while their mother is absent.

The film uses close-ups and tilted frames along with a shaky camera as it portrays a stressfully realistic scenario. The camera techniques does not allow you to get a clear and calm image of the situation, allowing one to be fully immersed in the emotions of the young girl. It ties in with the emotions of Caroline as the story is told through her limited and child-like perspective. The cries of her baby siblings as well as her harried yet caring mother's desperation adds to the crafting of the tension and unease Caroline feels when confronted with the unfamiliar situation. It is about Caroline. Her emotions and perspectives regarding the events, leaving her and the audience much in the dark to the specific details (a child's innocence and ignorance) of the events occurring while still leaving enough evidence for the audience to comprehend more fully what a child cannot.

With sensational acting from the characters, Catherine Held playing the mother in a convincing and moving play with the young girl. The film displays the dilemma of what a person must do what the best decision would be as they are backed into a corner or left with no options or proper aid.

Close up shots, sweat, tears and a confined space. It's tense.

Caroline is a nerve-wracking short film directed by Logan George and Celine Held centered around a six year old girl who's mothers is in distress and the responsibilities of looking after her siblings have fallen upon her. Caroline's mother is in need of a job and the film begins with the family in the car on the way to what seems to be a job interview on a very hot day. Being the only adult, Caroline's mother must leave her children in the car in hopes that a six year old will be able to handle anything that may arise during the time that she is gone. 3 young children alone, inside of a hot car with no AC on. Attention is drawn to them and tension rises as the film progresses.

Caroline is a film that keeps you on your toes, creates tension and makes you uncomfortable in the best way possible. The sweat, uncomfortable movement and the cry of the children all serve to keep the audience invested in each scene.

Although it had a little bit of a lackluster ending, the film successfully kept me interested in the storyline. I would recommend it to older audiences who are able to understand the struggle of the mother and the burden that is constantly put on this 6 year old child so that they may better comprehend the film as a whole. .