Half-Life

Set in a near-future Northern Californian suburb threatened by looming global catastrophe, the magically atmospheric Half-Life centres on the disillusioned and decaying Wu family. Abandoned by their father, eighteen-year-old Pam and her little brother Timothy live with their self-absorbed mother and her young meteorologist boyfriend. Working nights as an airport janitor, the depressed Pam crushes on her best friend Scott, a gay Korean adoptee who desperately wants his religious parents to acknowledge his sexuality. Sensitive and innocent Timothy withdraws into a supernatural world of monstrous jellyfish and space travel to escape his loneliness. A bold and ambitiously original outing for first-time director Jennifer Phang, Half-Life is a darkly humorous and deeply affecting dreamlike drama about the many ways people take flight from their lives. Gorgeous photography and elaborate handcrafted animations make it as visually stunning as it is emotionally raw.
Kyle Stephan