THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS | Omeleto

A man has a conversation. Hank is readying himself to meet with a doctor, gathering his composure in his car, filling out forms and making sure he has money before he goes into the back of a large freight van for the "procedure." But Dr. Gale Gustberg is no normal doctor. In her own peculiar way, she can summon the ghosts of the dead, bringing them back for two minutes. Her clients pay to be able to communicate with their loved ones, and for his two minutes, Hank must overcome both his skepticism and fear to say the things he never got to say to his deceased mother. Directed and written by Luke Barnett and Tanner Thomason, this quirky yet deeply felt supernatural dramedy short takes on the subjects of loss, grief and how we're always holding a space for our departed loved ones -- a space that has become heavy for Hank. The narrative covers weighty emotional terrain, but the film conjures a unique atmosphere around its oddball premise, filled with dry humor, moments of spooky uncanniness and heartfelt emotion. Taken on its own terms, it makes for a film that's captivating in tone and also highly universal in feeling. Taking place in the middle of a desolate nowhere, the storytelling oscillates between the melancholic and the offbeat. The setting feels emotionally barren, but even the process of meeting with the ghost requires a prosaic amount of paperwork. The doctor herself -- played memorably by Emmy-nominated actor Dot-Marie Jones -- is a tracksuit-clad eccentric, and like Hank, we're not sure if she's a quack or not. The narrative has a lot of fun building suspense and intrigue, but when a ghost emerges from underneath an old, floral-patterned bedsheet, the film shifts into a more grounded, plaintive register. The time has come for Hank to lay bare what's in his heart, to say what he's longed to say to his deceased mother, and actor Luke Barnett quickly navigates a stream of emotions, humorously stumbling over shock, surprise and nervousness. But ultimately, all of that falls away, and a world-weary, troubled man becomes a son who must compress years of feeling into two minutes for a mother he misses dearly. The moment is both funny and moving, rich in feeling and delivered with powerful authenticity by Barnett, whose grounded performance anchors us in a story that traverses a remarkable breadth of tone and emotion, and lands us in a cathartic, soulful place. THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS was inspired by Barnett's own story of losing his mother at a young age, as well as the startling moment years later when he was sent an old video message from her from a friend's parent. In its own wise, shaggily eccentric way, the film touches upon the universal yearning to communicate one last time with those we lost too soon -- not just the important things, but all the small details we wished we could share with them. And of course, we wish for all the life we could have lived with them but couldn't. It is often said that grief is love that has nowhere to go. But for two minutes in this film, unexpressed love has a place to go, where we hope it is heard and held close, wherever our loved ones have gone. THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS. Courtesy of Luke Barnett at https://instagram.com/iamlukebarnett.