I'm Fine: a Short Film

I’m Fine is a short film that I wrote, recorded, and filmed almost entirely by myself in late April of 2023 for my high school’s film fest. I’ve had ideas for various projects about my mental health for a few years now. This is the first project of this vein that I’ve completed, and it almost definitely won’t be the last. This film features me and three representations of various aspects of my mental health while anxiety screams over me, depression mopes while resting its head on the heater, and my own expectations of myself frantically justify why they exist by the mirror.

I’m a person who has dealt with with anxiety on some level or another for most of my life, and depression since around 2020. (Gee, I wonder why.) Mental health shit is always hard. and the fact that people don’t talk about it openly and honestly that much has a tendency to make people feel like they’re alone in their struggles. And a lot of the time even if they know they aren’t alone, it still feels like they are because that’s what mental health shit can do babyyyyyy. It also doesn’t help that a lot of the time when people publicly speak about these things they usually seem to have no experience with it themselves, and end up talking about the “power of positive thinking!” or some other positive bullshit like that. When it isn’t aggressively patronizing, it’s infuriating.

So I figured that “hey! I’m feeling like shit right now and need to make a film for the film fest, might as well get something out of these shitty feelings and make some sort of art about it!” I don’t know if this film will help anyone or make them feel less alone, but I hope it does. Because you aren’t alone. I promise.

Also I can’t remember where I first heard of it but this scene from that show that everyone wouldn’t shut up about last year is one of the other things that gets the feeling across very well.

Alright, have a good night! Meds work but aren’t for everyone!