A short film directed by Will McCormack and Michael Govier, named If Anything Happens I Love You, depicts a grieving parents’ journey through an emotional void after the loss of a child. 

The short film If Anything Happens I Love You is a beautifully illustrated portrait of a parent’s passage through accepting and grieving their child’s loss. While also dealing with how this event has affected their lives as a whole. The emotional journey portrayed in this film allows the viewer to see firsthand the hardships of such events. This is the effect this has on the family forever, or the pain and emotional voids both parents are experiencing while taking it out on each other. 

Many positive aspects can be found when looking at this masterpiece of a film, whether it be the symbolism that can be found throughout the plot, the simplistic art style that only adds focus to the main characters and/or points they were trying to create, or the flashbacks that fit perfectly within this film and the plot.

I find a piece of symbolism absolutely admirable in the shadows, and they can speak a thousand words just through their actions rather than any genuine words. Throughout the film, no comments are said other than the sentence, If Anything Happens I Love You, this film’s effect, due to its lack of words, lasts longer.

As you are forced to feel what the parents are going through themselves, even seeing the flashbacks that the parents are thinking about when seeing certain parts of their house. For example, when the father sees the blue splatter of paint on the outside walls of their home.

Lastly, a favorite about the film is its art style. It doesn’t seem like much in the beginning, but once fully entering the plot, the reason for this art style seems apparent as it allows you to focus on the characters and events as a whole, instead of having to pick out the characters in a busy background or scene. 

After watching and analyzing this short film, there are no actual negative aspects. The plotline can be broken down fairly easily; the symbolism used to express feelings and foreshadow what is to come is amazingly done, along with its use, or rather lack of, words. I would recommend this film to anyone who has ever loved and lost, as I believe that it paints an incredibly accurate portrait of the emotions and actions that you go through during times as hard as those.