“Somewhere Slow” follows the story of Anna Thompson (Jessalyn Gilsig), a bulimic, appearance obsessed, middle-aged skin care rep who later finds herself the suspect of a convenience store robbery she witnessed.
Yearning for a change of pace in her life, she flees her home in Delaware, leaving her controlling husband (David Costabile) behind. She meets up with Mormon teenager Travis (Graham Patrick Martin) at a bus stop and they soon develop an intimate relationship. The couple flees to Anna’s abandoned summer cottage in New England, where they embrace their newfound simple lives and find their true aspirations.
“Somewhere Slow” has a simplistic story line. It’s relatable for those viewers going through a mid-life crisis who feel the need to escape to a new life.
The film teaches us to live in the spur of the moment because only then can we find our true identities and come back as stronger individuals.
“I originally wrote the story [with] Anna in her late 20s,” said writer and director Jeremy O’Keefe after the last screening of his film at Cinequest. “I ended up changing it when I actually started thinking of making the movie. It’s my story, to some degree. I think it’s really relatable… where ever you’re stuck, it’s possible to break free of it.”
While Anna is fulfilled with leaving her life in Delaware, there isn’t a sense of reassurance at the end that showed she emotionally pieced her life together. From a viewer’s standpoint, the ending seems abrupt and forced.
Travis suddenly leaves Anna unexpectedly one morning, leaving a note telling her to go back to her “perfect life.” Viewers then see Anna contemplating the ultimate decision of going back to Delaware.
There seems to be no sense of completion that says that Anna is ready to go back home, and Travis’ absence is mysterious and unexplained as well.
“The main ending that was important for me was that no matter what your next step is, you have to take responsibility for the next step,” O’Keefe said.
“I believe that she returned home simply because she had a husband, she has a planned life, and she has to answer to the police. It’s easy… to take a trip like this and make that moment last for a lifetime. What I think is that this movie is the beginning of her story.”
(facebook.com/somewhereslowmovie)
MOVIE STILL- Anna Thompson (Jessalyn Gilsig) embraces Travis Tratten (Graham Patrick Martin in a scene from the film “Somewhere Slow.” (facebook.com/somewhereslowmovie)
