Anne at 13,000 Ft.

A socially awkward nursery teacher’s (Deragh Campbell) perspective on life changes after she does a skydive.

A short and claustrophobic view on mental illness and social anxiety. It’s a solid piece of naturalistic work that puts you right there in Anne’s life - Radwanski shoots everything up close and in 50mm, and Campbell’s lead performance is right on the nose.

The screenplay refuses to diagnose or even discuss what Anne is going through, she just kind of annoys people and upsets herself, and this really chimes with my observations of how as a society we deal with people going through shit like this. High on good-intentions but short on patience and understanding.

The central metaphor of skydiving is a little clumsy and doesn’t add much, and ultimately you really start to feel the lack of any other type of shot or perspective of Anne.

But I’d still recommend Anne at 13,000 Ft. on the strength of its lead, its gentle handling of the subject matter and - not to sound cynical - its short run time.