Calling Out

David (59) plugs the pump to deflate the mattress as he usually does when visiting his son, only this time he gets drained right along with it. We watch this father slowly sink into grief as he re-learns how to live in a world where his son, Sam (26), is dead.

This is something he could have never imagined 3 months ago, on his last visit, while having free beer from Evie (34), a bartender that used David to get her number to Sam. That was the status quo that should’ve been present had tragedy not struck.

He’s shaken out of his reminiscing haze by the sound of the door buzzer. Evie comes in from the past with force, disturbing his grief; like a panicked cannonball demanding to talk to Sam. But she is stopped in her tracks once David has to announce that his son is dead, a news he doesn’t even know how to break to himself. Caught in a fight or flight response, she flees, leaving David to chase after her.

They have a drink, Evie has two, she tries to be comforting but fails; every word of concern turns more standoffish than the last; David sees her trying and offers dinner next door and a new start to their interaction, she accepts. Throughout their dinner conversation, David gets the impression that Sam and Evie were closer than she wants to admit. The more he pries, the more tension rises, Evie lets out that she’s pregnant.

How is she gonna handle things? David loses his temper, and demands involvement. Evie reminds him that her life is hers and that they remain strangers. Desperate David begs her to meet him after her shift the next day and Evie leaves without much of an answer.

No family, no love left but grief. David's left alone, still stuck. Evie is stuck in traffic, while he waits at the bar, she moves forward despite the past. We don’t know what she decided, that's the question we’re left with as she calls out and drives away.