Grieving over the loss of a loved one is never easy, but everyone goes through the process in their own way. This is the topic at the center of the short film Raspberry, a 7 minute long look at how a family handles their grief of a close family member dying and how one son struggles to say goodbye. With a talented cast and an intimate story to tell, Raspberry explores emotions in surprising and endearing ways.

The film opens a family at a father’s bedside as he takes his final breath. After he passes away, the family struggles to cope with the loss. But one character - a quiet and standoffish son - struggles the most with the passing of his father. As everyone gives their final words before funeral home undertakers take the deceased man away, this son is encouraged to say one last goodbye, and he decides to do so in the only way he knows how: with a long and loud raspberry.

While the film is mostly somber in tone with occasional moments of real-world awkwardness, this moment that the short builds up to with the son, his deceased dad, and the raspberry is both comedic in nature yet tender in spirit. It’s a moment that could’ve led the finale to a number of different conclusions, but the direction that writer and director Julian Doan opts for offers a uniquely emotional dynamic to this take on grief.

The cast all work together well to anchor the mood for the film, with Alexis Rhee as the mother, Gihee Hong as the sister, and Joseph Lee as the brother who you might recognize from a previous Sundance hit (and one of my favorite films of 2018), Searching. But it’s Raymond Lee’s performance as the son that has the deepest impact. Armed with what is sure to be the best and most poignant ugly cry of the year, he takes his character from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other in a believable and compelling manner. 

Doan, whose talents span much of the gamut of filmmaking, adeptly uses this opportunity to be serious and sincere, making it easy for audiences to emotionally connect with the story. What he has crafted here is a short film that feels complete, brilliantly (and somewhat ironically) using slice-of-life storytelling to communicate the complexities of grieving over death.

Raspberry makes its world premiere at Sundance 2021 as part of the Shorts Program 2. Learn more at festival.sundance.org.

Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 2 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 2 | What does this mean?

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH WRITER AND DIRECTOR JULIAN DOAN