“Gracefully Broken” by Matt Lorenzo

“Gracefully Broken” opens on the lowest moment of a man’s existence. What comes next is the story of a slow, graceful, human, fragile ascent. The narration adheres perfectly to this healing path, making the film a human experience that cannot be defined simply as a “film”. The delicate story of our protagonist is then intertwined with that of a woman, united by a similar destiny. The path to happiness therefore becomes a shared journey, between two existences that have thinned down to have the consistency of little more than shadows. Is it possible to save us without help? This is the question that Matt Lorenzo, the director, seems to ask us. And on the other hand, this same question is the basis of medical research on the cure for depression.

At the end of the film, the definition of “Depression” given by the vocabulary appears slowly. The film is therefore an epitome of this devious disease that devours men leaving the body intact, but it is also something more. Lorenzo’s directorial sensibility, the refinement of the script, written by Omari Washington and composed mostly of gestures and silences , make it a work of great poetic depth. In the harmony that is created between the spectator and the protagonists, the disease transcends, and the struggle of Alex and Jules becomes that of anyone against their own ghosts. The truth and sincerity illuminated by Lorenzo’s camera make the film a universal work.