MicroCinema Scene

Microcinema audiences will remember Tyler S. Wilson’s excellent and gripping short Abomination, reviewed on this site. For his follow up Tyler now goes slightly into supernatural territory, questioning the human existence.

Where Abomination was very concisely built around a specific event, here Tyler Wilson goes to broader territory that’s clearly influenced by the early Steven Spielberg of Close Encounters, or the teenaged angst of the suburban world in Donnie Darko, and even the rain of frogs in Magnolia.

Teenager Josiah (Trevor Marti) has a very close relationship with his mother; then an unexpected tragedy takes place, and makes Josiah start questioning the meaning of life. With a greater theme, Tomorrow’s Lullaby feels lighter than Abomination, but nevertheless equally crafted.

In the acting area, Trevor Marti is efficient and so is Sean Gormley (previously seen in Abomination); special mention goes to Kelly Devine as Josiah’s little sister.

That said, the atmosphere is beautifully realized and the visual storytelling is strong; the ending before the epilogue is quite effective.

The always-haunting score by Jeremy Delamarter heightens the sense of wandering in this very personal and spiritual quest. I do miss the social commentary ever present in Abomination, although there is a great scene in a high school class where the teacher has ordered as homework for the kids to write down what their future in life will be. Here Josiah explodes about the impossibility of predicting your goals in this scene that brings to mind the rebellious nature of (again) Donnie Darko.

Pacing is not as tight as in Abomination; part of the issue is, I think, that this 30 minute short is paced as if it were the first 30 minutes of a feature, and this feels like an unnecessary stretch that could have been avoided by slightly trimming the end of certain scenes.

Don’t get me wrong if I’m picky: there is a lot to like in Tomorrow’s Lullaby. The film is certainly worth a look for its sincerity, and is another step in the learning curve of a talented director whom although has proven himself very capable on his earlier short, is now willing to explore new ground in shaping new ideas for the even greater work he’ll certainly create in the future.

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