4 out of 5

Director: Luke Doolan

Effective staging, acting, and mood, ‘Miracle Fish’ give us little Joe, picked on at school, even on his birthday, who wakes up after a nap in the nurse’s office to find the building completely empty… bookbags left on the floor, teacher’s desks seemingly abandoned.  A book perhaps dropped about alien abductions makes him smile.  He then wanders the halls, eating candybars from the school shop, drawing on chalkboards, enjoying his solitude.

The long, drifting shots and unlit hallways of course let us know that there’s something amiss about the whole affair, and when it rears its head we might question the lack of details supporting that amissness… but ‘Fish,’ and, perhaps, shorts in general, don’t need to linger on these specifics so much in service of their endgame, at which the film succeeds.  ‘Netherland Dwarf’ (also a short from Blue Tongue) wanted to capture a moment of loss and, to me, buffered it too much to make it truly effective.  ‘Miracle’ is built oppositely, surrounding some joy with much sadness, and sprinkling little pieces – the titular ‘Fish’ a mood-ring like device that Joe’s mum gives him for his birthday, telling Joe he’s ‘compassionate’ when the item curls in his hand; Joe’s childish exchange with the other main character who emerges; and most effectively, Joe’s half-smile at the short’s conclusion – to really sell us on the experience especially when poised against the otherwise oppressive atmosphere.

Joe’s dialogue hinges on sappy kid-sageyness, but here is where actors / directors can hinder or enhance words on a page, as Karl Beattie as Joe speaks the lines so naturally that you buy it.  You believe this kid exists.

Doolan’s camera work, slow and panning, feels mostly fitting but on occasion forced, just a planned shot to go along with the rest even though it might not have been needed.  At the same time, he includes little synchronous details that make rewatching of interest.

A definitely fine example of the genre.