Adriana's Way Back

Adriana's Way Back

Bruce Von Stiers

When a person commits suicide, it impacts people surrounding them. Some of those people are severely impacted and are emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. Others are impacted for a while and then find a way to emotionally recover and then help others.

That is the theme of a short drama film titled 40 Seconds.

As the film begins, Adriana is missing her best friend. She is thinking to herself that the friend had messed up. And that the friend has messed her up.

She gets dressed up and goes to see another friend. She really wants to talk about things, but he shuts her out. It's not a good time. She tells him that, yes, their friend could have picked a better time to kill herself. He tells her to go get some professional help. That is how we learn why Adriana had been thinking about how the friend had messed her up. She leaves the guy's apartment and then breaks down on a stairway.

A little later, an exchange of texts between Adriana and someone else leads Adriana to go on a trail hike. Once she gets there, Adriana finds the other person isn't there. Then Adraina encounters a couple who are trying to take a selfie.

Then, after another incident, a young woman comes and talks with Adriana. Through the conversation, we eventually learn that the young woman, Alex, is the one who committed suicide. And that Alex is just in Adriana's imagination. They walk the trail together, talking. They encounter a shirtless guy taking selfies and comment on that as well.

The thing that really brought things into focus for me was when Adriana asked Alex why she did it. Why she committed suicide. Alex responded, “In that moment, I forgot about all the things worth living for. And I regret that.”

For the remainder of the film, the conversation with Alex, albeit imagined, helps bring Adriana back to a certain level. That she can recover as a survivor of the emotional scarring of her friend's suicide. And that she would be able to help others on the journey to recover from the emotional trauma of a friend or loved one's suicide.

Kelly Pantaleoni is Adriana. She co-starred in the action thriller The Handler and co-starred in the limited series Immortal. Amanda Howells, who is listed in the ending credits as Mandy Galang, plays Alex. She co-starred in the horror thriller Funhouse.

Anaisa Visser was the co-producer and co-screenwriter for 40 Seconds. She directed the film as well. She also co-produced and wrote the screenplays for several other short films and she helped direct the Tubi original film, Corrective Measures.

Joel Semande is the friend that shuts Adriana out. He co-starred in Dying For A Good Grade and was featured in two episodes of The Flash. Stephanie Hamer is the girlfriend who wanted Adriana to take the photo of her and her boyfriend. She co-starred in the comedy short film, Split Ends and appeared in an episode of the Australian drama, Doctor, Doctor. Trevar Fox is the boyfriend. He appeared in an episode of Project Blue Book and the Hallmark Mysteries film, Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead. Xander Sargent plays the shirtless guy in the film.

There is a scene with Adriana and some hikers at the end of the film. Those actors were Rebecca Chalon, Faye Dosch, Kallie Hu, Cindy Morris and Lauren Oreilly.

Dave Click composed music for the film. He's composed music for several films, such as the sci-fi thriller, Dark Corners and the drama, Once Upon a Time…

Maria Belen Garcia was the cinematographer. She was the cinematographer for the short drama films, Tryst and Three Days.

Phil Planta was one of the producers. He's produced a number of short films and a music video for the band Autograf. Niv Ende was another producer and he edited the film. His sci-fi drama short film, Machine, is currently making its way around the film festival circuit.

Vivian Davidson-Castro was the Impact Producer. She has over thirty screen credits as an actor and over a dozen more as a producer. And Jason O'Toole was the film's executive producer.

There is a great song at the end of the film, Sweetness in the Shadows, that is by Canadian artist Daughter of the Moon.

40 Seconds was filmed in West Vancouver.

Although I mentioned Kelly Pantaleoni earlier, I didn't fully explain her involvement with the film. She came up with the concept for the film based on her experiences after the suicide of her best friend. The title of the film comes from a statistic stating that every 40 seconds someone in the world commits suicide. From the concept, Kelly brought together several people in the film world who are advocates for mental health and other related needs. From that collaboration, this film was made.

Kelly's character in the film becomes an advocate for mental heath and issues related to suicide. Kelly herself is an advocate for this as well. She has hopes that the film could be used as a resource for mental health education.

Kelly's statement to me regarding the film was “I want this to be used as a way to help people come to terms with their own mental health struggles, see there is a way out through community and new friendships, and know there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I suffered with depression and suicidal ideation myself, but connecting with those I lost in the spirit realm (the friend character in the film) allowed me to realize we are always connected and guided and loved by them, even from the other side."

40 Seconds does a good job of emphazing that there is a way to get beyond the grief and guilt associated with someone's suicide. Whether it be help in the real world, the spiritual world or simply an essence of consciousness, a person can have emotional healing and be able to recover from the trauma.

40 Seconds was made in 2020. At that time the film was seen at some film festivals. There hasn't been a formal release for the film yet. In the near future, the film may be available on VOD or as an offering from one of the many streaming service.

There is a web site for 40 Seconds that has a few resources for mental health issues. Some of the statistics that are listed on the web site are not current. But Kelly will be updating the web site in the future with current information and statistics. The web site for 40 Seconds is https://www.40secondsfilm.com/

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