"Ethan & Skye" is an American live action short film from 2014, so this one is also comfortably over half a decade old now, maybe close to a decade even depending on when you arrive at this title page and check out my review. It runs for slightly over half an hours, so not the shortest of short films, and Daniel Healey and Danny Maldonado wrote and directed this one. Don't worry if the names do not sound familiar to you as this was their very first filmmaking credit and they have not really enjoyed a breakthrough since then. Or a prolific career. You can see from the lack of a rating on this site here that the film was not seen by that many, although maybe it was and just isn't recorded here because it could very well be that this title page got added not too long ago. The reason would be lead actress Kiera Allen and I am sure her being in here is the reason for 99% of the people who saw this film why they saw this film. Not too long ago, she starred next to really successful actress Sarah Paulson in a mix between thriller and horror movie and I have not seen that one, but on Youtube (where I watched this short) I saw that basically everybody in the comment section came there because of that Paulson movie. For Allen, this was her very first credit as an actress and same applies to her male co-lead Elijah Fritchman who is still waiting for his breakthrough. The three grown-up actors you see in here have been more experienced, even if they are also far, far away from something that would even be remotely close to stardom.
As for the story, this is the tale of two teenagers who meet in the woods and we find out they are both runaways. The girl is struggling because of her psychologically abusive stepmother, who wants to send her to a boarding school, and because of her neglectful father. The boy is physically abused by his alcoholic father. The story starts in the woods, but we learn about the characters' fates through flashback sequences. The ending is also mentionable, but not just for good reasons. Basically two very different endings. The girl's father is sorry and apologizes for his behavior and eveil stepmom is gone in an almost too happy ending honestly while the boy's ending feels too unhappy as he hates his father so much that he basically lets him die when he is unconscious and basically suffocating from his own vomit. Shocking ending for sure, also the fairly graphic depiction. Maybe a bit too much for both young characters in terms of how their stories are solved, even if I liked how the boy was not simply adopted by the girl's father, but he takes him to his own dad and stays and is ready to help, but his guess who really needs help in that scenario was incorrect it seems. That's pretty much it. Overall, not good enough for a positive recommendation. The subject deserved better. The acting was also not always convincing. Allen was overacting on several occasions and it was almost painful to watch, no matter how stunning she may be. And Fritchman's more subtle performance was also rather forgettable than quietly convincing. But I also think the two writers (and directors) are to blame there because, especially in Allen's case, they could (no should) have interfered and told her that less can be more too. Watch something else instead and I hope Allen has improved in the years since then. I will probably check out "Run" at some point and see how she is doing now. Looks like critics really liked that one, so this could give young actresses hope that there is always a chance for improvement, even if the way you launched your career was more on the messy side.
As for the story, this is the tale of two teenagers who meet in the woods and we find out they are both runaways. The girl is struggling because of her psychologically abusive stepmother, who wants to send her to a boarding school, and because of her neglectful father. The boy is physically abused by his alcoholic father. The story starts in the woods, but we learn about the characters' fates through flashback sequences. The ending is also mentionable, but not just for good reasons. Basically two very different endings. The girl's father is sorry and apologizes for his behavior and eveil stepmom is gone in an almost too happy ending honestly while the boy's ending feels too unhappy as he hates his father so much that he basically lets him die when he is unconscious and basically suffocating from his own vomit. Shocking ending for sure, also the fairly graphic depiction. Maybe a bit too much for both young characters in terms of how their stories are solved, even if I liked how the boy was not simply adopted by the girl's father, but he takes him to his own dad and stays and is ready to help, but his guess who really needs help in that scenario was incorrect it seems. That's pretty much it. Overall, not good enough for a positive recommendation. The subject deserved better. The acting was also not always convincing. Allen was overacting on several occasions and it was almost painful to watch, no matter how stunning she may be. And Fritchman's more subtle performance was also rather forgettable than quietly convincing. But I also think the two writers (and directors) are to blame there because, especially in Allen's case, they could (no should) have interfered and told her that less can be more too. Watch something else instead and I hope Allen has improved in the years since then. I will probably check out "Run" at some point and see how she is doing now. Looks like critics really liked that one, so this could give young actresses hope that there is always a chance for improvement, even if the way you launched your career was more on the messy side.
