No. 72. (2020) STARFISH November 15th.

 

Film No. 72 (2020)  November 15th.  1:00 PM.  Cinema 5  LUNA Leederville.

"They just grow them back again".(Tom explains to daughter Grace what happens to a Starfish if it loses its arms).

I haven't seen a project film of the likes of Starfish for a good while. And while the earnestness of the film's script makes for a very, made for T.V. product, the aim of Starfish is to bring an awareness to the wider community of a condition called sepsis.

 

Using the true story of Tom Ray and his family, writer/director Bill Clarke, has created a very moving story about how normal people, living normal lives are suddenly dealt a crushing hand. Joanne Froggatt, (also an executive producer) plays Tom's wife, Nicola. A wife who never stops loving her husband through all his physical and emotional challenges, as his body fights sepsis. The Ray family story must certainly have struck a chord with both Clarke and Froggatt. The unique technique of morphing aspects of Ray's actual face into Riley's for reasons that become obvious, is mesmerizing. Earnest this film may be, but it highlights the fact that what we worry about day to day can become insignificant when we are blindsided by something we never imagined happening to us. 

In the Ray's, case, sepsis is one very cruel blindsiding. The Ray family's bravery is anything but ordinary. 9GUMS.