The Green Sea is an intense and methodically paced short film playing at The Fantasia Film Festival. Izzy, Nathan, and Libby are having a hard time growing up now that their father Greensy has passed away. Their mother Laura has taken up a pill addiction and engaged in an unhealthy relationship with a violent man. The Green Sea paints a grim of picture of grief and sadness and shows how love can be a powerful connecting force.
Written and directed by Steven Alexander Ross, the spirit of Greensy is best embodied by the scenery. Robbins takes in the rural Canadian location and shows the nature of Greensy’s attachment to his life. The children use the home and objects in various way to pay tribute to their late father and this is how they maintain their connection.
The Green Sea is a ghost story, but it is also a vengeance story. Superb acting and dialogue reflect the despair cast over the family as Donny, the new man in Laura’s life asserts his cruel dominance over the family. Donny is played by Goran Ivanovksy and he is fantastically awful in the role of the new father and young actor Gena Marie Koinzan gives a masterful performance as Izzie, the oldest child who has to take up a very adult task.
The Green Sea does depict some very graphic scenes of abuse so some viewers may want to distance themselves. Overall, the The Green Sea demonstrates the truly terrifying struggles of the living. The Green Sea is presented as part of the Small Gauge Trauma showcase at this year’s Fantasia Festival.
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