This little short film kept popping up on my social media feed for about six months before I allocated the slim 11.5 minutes required to watch it.
As it started I immediately got a 'Last Flag Flying' (2017) vibe from it -- quirky, but touching. That about says it all.
Since watching it, I have been thinking a lot about the three actors, especially Dot-Marie Jones, who, in an unforgettable performance, nearly steals the show.
Here's what the writer/director/actor, Luke Barnett, says on X/Twitter about the genesis of it:
"My mom died when I was 17. I only have a handful of pictures and zero videos of her. A couple years ago, on my birthday, I got a text from a number I didn't recognize. It simply said 'happy birthday' with a YouTube link. I clicked it and my heart stopped. It was my mom.
"I had to pull over immediately. She was telling me how proud she was of me and how she wondered what I'd become. Maybe a policeman, a preacher, or even a clown. I couldn't believe it.
"Well, it turns out the random phone number was my friend Jon's dad, who had found this video on an old VHS tape they made before a 1999 school event. I was 16.
"This experience got me thinking... what if we could have one last conversation with someone we lost?"