MOM AND DAD LIVE IN DIFFERENT HOUSES | Omeleto

A young girl is dropped off. A little girl is leaving her mother's home, ready to be dropped off at her father's house nearby. As she sits in the car, the world passes by, and so do the memories and thoughts about her parents and her family. She traces a happier past that mysteriously dissolves into a tension and unhappiness that she doesn't quite understand. But as she connects the past to her present, she comes to another understanding, one that helps her feel comforted and positive about her family's future. Directed and written by Brad Bischoff, this touching and thoughtful short drama brings a child's perspective on divorce and co-parenting to life with quietly stunning emotional depth and innocence. The structure of the film mirrors the poem that the little girl recites in the beautifully written voiceover, relaying the story of her family as a stream of dreams and memories rushes past her as she's being dropped off at her father's house. Told with a nostalgic, delicate blend of actual home movie footage, unadorned naturalistic storytelling and practical effects, the narrative starts with remembrances of an idyllic early childhood, with a mother and father who danced together and adored their new baby in a home full of art, music, laughter and good memories. But she also notices the beginnings of tensions between her mother and father, detailed with heartbreaking specificity. It's never explicitly explained what happened, but it is still gently and kindly observed by the little girl, played with poignant understatement by young performer Everly Bischoff, the daughter of the writer-director, who also plays the father. The disintegration of the parental relationship takes a quiet toll on both the parents and child, and soon the decision is made to separate. As seen through the daughter's eyes, this parallel narrative of the parents is handled with great care and sensitivity, avoiding blame or anger as it hints at each parent's inner life as adults. Instead, there's only a saddened uncertainty from the little girl. As the family transitions into a new configuration, emotions are still fragile, though with care, decency and a commitment to kindness, they discover that love and connection can still exist, even if split between two different homes. Adapted from the writer-director's own children's book of the same name, MOM AND DAD LIVE IN DIFFERENT HOUSES resonates with personal truth, rich tenderness and emotional generosity, allowing a fundamental dignity and compassion for each of its characters. What is most remarkable, however, is that despite the difficulty of divorce and separation, it retains the fundamental wonderment of childhood, a certain simplicity of spirit that can find joy, love and warmth in almost any circumstance. As the young girl says, "Our flowers bloom wherever they are grown." She discovers that even though her parents may have separated into their own homes, she is still deeply loved -- and that her sense of safety, security and happiness are still the most important thing to them. Even if they are no longer all in the same house, they are still united in love as a family, a feeling made palpable through such sincere and powerful storytelling. MOM AND DAD LIVE IN DIFFERENT HOUSES. Courtesy of Brad Bischoff at https://bradleybischoff.com.