Depth

A “Surface Tension” FILM
WRITTEN BY Chris McIntyre

Depth is more than distance, it is distance through an unfamiliar medium.

Tears stream down his face as a boy flees from his father down to the sea. The next time his family see him, the 18 year old is lying in a coma which separates him from the world, his family and his friends. He is trapped deep within his new world; an amniotic, woozy microcosm which harkens to the still calm that prevails deep under the stormy surface of the ocean.

As his life is put on hold, the world continues around him.

‘Depth’ documents the struggle of those close to him to adjust. Bedside confessions in his hospital room become their therapy, as issues which dwell under the surface bubble and break. As his mother, sister and best friend confide their hopes, dreams and regrets to him they have no way of knowing whether or not he can hear them - or whether or not he will ever wake up.

Notably absent from the hospital room is the boy’s suffering father, who offers no reasoning for his vacancy. The untold secrets eat at him as he confronts his own issues alone, avoiding his son, his wife and especially his sons best friend.

Looming over them all is the choice they will eventually have to make, which grows more pertinent as each day passes. The life support dilemma provides a constant worry which tugs the back of their minds, a choice which will affect them all on different levels.

You never know what’s on the other side.