Four friends are about to leave the safe confines of their small
town in pursuit of their dreams, but one young man plans on staying and
won’t let them go without a fight.
Freshwater goosebumps. Roman
candle shootouts. S’mores, singalongs, and sunsets. These are just some
of the artifacts of youthful summers, sensory memories that are highly
individualistic‚ yet strangely universal, no matter where one was
raised. To watch Brooks Reynolds’ latest short film, Set No Path,
is to be dunked head-first in a pool of said memories: the syrupy
sweetness of young love, the ephemeral feeling of invincibility, and the
aching reality of life beyond small-town borders. Reynolds provides us
with a haunting, poetic narrative, gorgeously rendered and steeped in
teenage nostalgia.
“We will still be friends. Connections like ours are permanent.”
Sam, Taylor, Owen, Jordan, and Carly are five life-long friends on
the verge of major change: it’s the last day of summer, the last day of
togetherness before they go their own respective ways, spread apart
geographically to different schools and careers. As a celebratory
send-off, the five decide to take an overnight trip to a lakeside
cottage, bent on making the most out of their last remaining hours
together as a unit. It’s a night none of them will soon forget — a night
when secrets will be revealed, relationships will be tested, and
unspoken feelings will finally rise to the forefront.
Drawing inspiration from songs by La Dispute and The Story So Far,
writer/director Reynolds (who also produced, shot, and edited the film
himself) crafted the story around visual ideas first, letting the
characters and their motivations fall into place once the locations and
mood were determined. Reynolds’ professional photography background
shines through in every shot; the stunning blend of RED Epic footage and
Super 8 film frames the teenagers as both music-video superstars (with
sparklers and flare guns) and naive kids, unaware of the harsh realities
that the larger world has in store for them.
Reynolds and his small
team shot the film at a location just north of Toronto. For the majority
of the production, the cast and crew camped out at their filming
location, canoeing in the mornings together before filming at night,
forming bonds and friendships that feel inhabited instead of rehearsed.
To capture flashback footage, Reynolds handed the Super 8 camera over to
the cast, letting the actors film themselves in the moment, bringing an
extra layer of authenticity to their onscreen relationships.
Both unapologetically sentimental and heart-breakingly realistic, Set No Path
is a wonder of a short, a film that stays with you, almost daring you
not to tear up or have an emotional connection with the characters
onscreen. And in the montage that closes out the film—an amalgam of
footage blending the characters’ past, present, and future—Reynolds
solidifies his status as a talent to watch. While we wait for his next
directorial effort (which he says is in the works), you can check out
his photography portfolio here.
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