Arrival

'Arrival' (2016) directed by Daniel Montanarini

A woman contemplates whether or not to keep her baby, while waiting for her lover to arrive in a small café.

This short film follows an inner monologue of a young woman in a café, trying to decide how to tell her lover she is pregnant, and whether or not she wants to keep it. We see her journey back and forth through the actor's body language, hearing only diegetic sound from within the location and the voice inside her head - a trail of consciousness in one long take.


The camera angle does not change throughout the whole five minutes, and the audience feels as though we are sat across from her at the scene, and see only a peripheral view of the café. Gradually, the camera zooms in as she further ponders her future, filling up most of the frame. The fact we don't really see other characters (besides an impartial waiter) echoes how personal her thoughts are, and how distracted she is inside her head she even spills the coffee at one point in the film.
At the end of the film, light floods through the window and the door to the café opens, leaving the audience to assume that the young woman has reached her decision and her lover has arrived.


This film is a representation of a single, young mother-to-be and the struggle and weight of pregnancy when you feel as though you aren't ready for the responsibility.
For my coursework in the future, I like the concept of a monologue dealing with a real-life situation. However, this film personally didn't speak to me - I assume the targeted viewer is perhaps someone in a similar situation who can relate to the story more.