"Jellyfish and Lobster" - BAFTA Nominated Short Film Review
Grace (Flo Wilson) and Mido (Sayed Badreya) are residents at an elderly care home in Jellyfish and Lobster. Grace has been diagnosed with cancer and hates living in the home. She finds the provided entertainment to be mind-numbingly dull and is looking for any source of fun. She finds that fun in, of all places, a supply closet, in the form of Mido. The two of them form a strange friendship when they discover the pool in the care home’s basement has magical properties. In a way, the pool gives Grace and Mido a chance to recapture their youth.
Many people are afraid of growing old. Of seeing themselves with gray hair and wrinkles. It’s a visible sign of how much things have changed, how far a person has come in their life. However, it is a gift to be able to grow old. To have spent a long, full life with people to love and who have loved you back. Mido and Grace aren’t afraid of growing old, but they are afraid of what it means to die. There are so many questions about the end that none of us know. We look to religion, music, art, mysticism, and more to find some sort of something to latch onto. Humans aren’t good at unknowables. We like to have answers, even if we create them ourselves.
courtesy of The National Film and Television School
Jellyfish and Lobster is about growing old and all that comes with it. Feelings of isolation, fear, and confusion are at the forefront of Grace’s mind. She doesn’t want to waste whatever time she has left on things that don’t bring her joy and amusement. And why should she? Has she not earned the freedom to do as she pleases? If not now, then when? It’s hard to go it alone, though, which is why Mido’s goofy, ever-present smile is like a life raft for Grace. Once she finds Mido, she latches onto him and allows herself to feel young and carefree again. It’s a luxury she likely hasn’t had in many years.
The depth that writer/director Yasmin Afifi has imbued in nineteen short minutes of film is astounding. Jellyfish and Lobster is a testament to Afifi’s vision and to the talented actors who become surrogate parents or grandparents to the audience. There’s a warmth in Wilson and Badreya, a childish glint in their eyes that adds charm to their serendipitous friendship. We should all be so lucky to grow old with long, beautiful years behind and ahead of us. We shouldn’t have to go it alone. Jellyfish and Lobster is for our friends, families, and loved ones who are no longer here. It’s also for those of us who are still here. A reminder that we are filled to the brim with life, and that one day it will all be over. So put on that lobster or jellyfish costume and go for a swim. What are you waiting for?
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