Jade Pettyjohn shines in Francesa Scorsese’s Fish Out of Water. This thought-provoking drama is about ensuring that past trauma doesn’t make it to the next generation while also searching for redemption. It’s a compelling short that will leave you pondering long after the credits roll.
Lexi (Jade Pettyjohn), a struggling young mom, has an opportunity to reconnect with her estranged family after her now-sober father approaches her with news of her mother’s failing health.
Lexi is having a rather hard time already in her young life. Estranged from her family, she has resorted to living in a motel with her young son Tyler after being kicked out of her apartment. She places him in the bathroom to play with his figurines as she serves her clients, taking money and whatever she can as payment. She is as close to rock bottom as someone can get as a young adult.
In Fish Out of Water, Jade Pettyjohn plays Lexi with so much doubt that it smothers you. She knows she can’t keep living the way she is, not only because of Tyler but for herself. She plays a woman who lost her childhood because of her family situation perfectly. It’s such a nuanced performance from the actor that when the doubt about what she should do, whether to believe her father and other doubts rise into her brain, we see the cogs moving as she tries to work out her next move.
She is also ultra-defensive, not so much for herself but for Tyler. She can’t let him go through what she did and, as such, jumps into a defensive mood as soon as her senses pick up something remotely wrong. It’s heartbreaking to see someone so young have to be that way, and the way Pettyjohn nails that is fantastic to see.
Steve Witting ably supports the repentant Robert, playing a character full of remorse but also with some hope. He knows the relationship between him and Lexi is broken, and if not for her mother, Anna (played terrifically well by Welker White), then that relationship would be dead. Yet, he is there wanting to try and repair it for Lexi, Anna and Tyler’s sake. He may lost the full trust of Lexi, but now sober, he can have something with Tyler. It, like Pettyjohn’s performance, is a deeply complex one. A few emotional balls need to be juggled, and Witting easily keeps them all up in the air.
Scorsese and cinematographer Idil Eryurekli are quite clever with Fish Out of Water. When we are in Lexi’s environment, the camera is on top of her, almost suffocating her. She needs to escape this life she has found herself in but can’t seem to at the moment. Meanwhile, at the family home, they move that camera back a touch.
This is not only to help show the distance between Lexi and her father, Robert but also to show her distrust of the entire situation. As if by pulling the camera back, we are giving Lexi room to make a quick exit in case things go expectantly (in her eyes) tits up. It is only when she begins to feel comfortable that the camera becomes a little tighter; however, gone is the claustrophobic nature of what we are seeing, it’s impressive and confident filmmaking from a director in only her second short film.
Fish Out of Water is a moving tale from Francesa Scorsese. Filled with layers and complexity of strained family relationships, it is one to catch whenever you can.
★★★ 3/4
For more of our coverage of the HollyShorts Film Festival, please check out our reviews below.
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