The bond between grandparent and grandchild can play a pivotal role in one's upbringing and “Lullaby” by Stanley Xu looks to explore the strength of that relationship.
Focusing on a specific family bond, the production captures this relationship to varying success, largely dependent on audience experience. To the credit of the short film, it does present an intimate and touching moment between family members, which is also framed by a subtle but intuitive decision. Specifically, when presenting the family, the parents are absent visually, with only their voices speaking over the film. Consequently, this allows for the audience to focus solely on its intended subjects, but also represents the world made between grandparent and child existing as a highly personable and unique union. Overall, the production is able to effectively capture the bond that can exist between family outside the parent/child bond with great sincerity.
To the production's detriment, the intended visceral response to the story is overly reliant on the audience's own experiences with grandparents. On a personal note, I am lucky in having a relatable background, with my grandmother playing an important role in my upbringing and personal growth. Drawing from my own experiences, “Lullaby” is a touching and sentimental piece and I feel a degree of personal thanks towards the director for so beautifully capturing that bond. Additionally, I can easily see others from similar backgrounds also having the same emotional reaction to this work. However, looking at this film from the view of a ‘critic' and removing myself from personal experience, the characters lack background to make them relatable. Unfortunately, nothing about the characters' own personalities is made apparent, which guarantees a disconnect from those who did not have a favorable relationship with grandparents.
The cinematography is serviceable to the film, a statement which can be carried over to sound design and performances. Overall, nothing about the performances or presentation will woo audiences, but with the focus being on the emotional response, this does not deter from the overall experience.
“Lullaby” falls short of being too reliant on audiences personal experiences to create an engaging narrative. However, with director Stanley Xu showing a talent to evoke such a strong emotional response from certain viewers, there is hope that a further defined narrative can make for a broader appeal. For those who have felt those strong bonds with grandparents, the short film really captures the importance of that relationship.