Family Secrets

Family Secrets

Bruce Von Stiers

Sandy is a young mother. Her lover, Cecil, is a lot older than her. In fact, he was a friend of her parents. After a somewhat strenuous dinner, Cecil sets a box down in front of Sandy. This box holds some secrets that Sandy had never been exposed to before.

That is the beginning of the short drama film, Her Lover. The film runs just about fifteen minutes.

The box that Cecil brings to Sandy contains a series of letters from her mother, Sarah. It seems that Sarah had committed suicide when Sandy was a young girl, and she never knew why. That is, until now. As Sandy goes through the contents of the box, she learns some things about her mother. And about her father Lem.

In a strange twist, Sandy also learns that Cecil had been her mother's lover. And that right before her mother killed herself, she'd been pregnant. Finding out both things might end up damaging the relationship that Sandy and Cecil have.

Mary Healy stars as Sandy. She starred in a recent episode of Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death and co-starred in the short drama film, My Own Shrink. She has also directed a couple of upcoming short drama films.

Michael Emery stars as Cecil. Between upcoming and previous roles, he has almost seventy screen credits. Those include episodes of Station 19 and The Equalizer and an episode of a limited series I reviewed a while ago, Tale of Tails.

Robyne Parrish is Sarah, Sandy's mother. She appeared in an episode of Gossip Girl, an episode of Law & Order and the feature film, A Man Called Otto.

Galway McCullough is Lem, Sandy's father. He has appeared in shows such as Bull, The Blacklist, FBI and Only Murders In The Building.

Robert Lodge was the director of photography. He was the cinematographer for Waiting For Galdot and the horror film, Circle of Death. Kat Vivaldi was the assistant camera operator. Her previous screen credits include No Accident and Stranger Next Door.

Elizabeth Stuelke is the producer and director of Her Lover. She has been writing screenplays and directing films for over ten years. She executive produced, and was one of the directors of the film I just mentioned, Waiting For Galdot, which was a contest winner for the Women in Film and Video D.C. She also has a production company, Fuzzy Pancakes Productions.

Emma Boyle was the assistant director. This film is her first IMDB listed screen credit.

Some of the talented people behind the camera for the film were Darcy Adam, Ben Weingartner, Talha Rana, Jada Hart and Dmitry Reiken.

Casting for the film was done by Heidi Eklund and her company, Hudson Valley Casting.

The film was shot in and around Ithica, New York.

Her Lover is a film with a lot of emotional turmoil. Sandy can't believe that Cecil had never disclosed his true relationship with her mother until now. And learning of the affair and her mother's subsequent pregnancy, lends another layer of uncertainty. Even though she learns that her mother had been pregnant by her father and not Cecil. Mary Healy provides a strong portrayal of a young woman whose world is turned upside down by the revealing of these secrets. And Michael Emery is strong yet somewhat vulnerable in his role as Cecil.

The cinematography was very good, and Parrish and McCullough did well in their supporting roles.

Her Lover won the Best Cinematography award at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival. It is also an Official Selection at the Golden State Film Festival. It is also an Official Selection at the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival and has been nominated for Best Cinematography at that festival.

To learn more about Her Lover, visit the Fuzzy Pancakes Productions website at https://www.fuzzypancakesproductions.com/

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