Miriam
By Sioph W. Leal
Set in 80s America, Miriam follows a young girl chosen to be the first Bat Mitzvah of her orthodox community, but it gets in the way of her true passion: skateboarding. Miriam (Pearl Scarlett Gold) schemes to skip Hebrew lessons so she can practice for a skateboarding competition but it’s in a park full of boys and most don’t think a girl should be skateboarding. Miriam is constantly told what she should or shouldn’t be doing because of her gender or her religion and even though it seems she must choose between one or the other, she wants to exist in both without causing a scene but as her friend reminds her, it's good to push boundaries.
With themes of religion and gender tradition, Miriam is a beautiful coming-of-age story that tackles the complexities of identity, discovering yourself and your voice in its short runtime but packs enough emotion to make every aspect of the family and their clashes feel natural and well developed. There’s a small moment at the beginning when Miriam is scared to try a skateboarding move from a high distance but for it to be a success she must cast away doubt and go at it with full force. She fails but that carries through the rest of the short film as she fails to conceal her passion from her family and her internal feelings of failing are forced out at the family dinner during Shabbat.
The film introduces Pearl Scarlett Gold who captures every nuance of Miram’s emotions, drives and showcases her differing relationship with each of her family who all have their own conflicts with each other that are perfectly crafted a very tense dinner scenes, crafted brilliantly by writer Levi Alexander and director Josie Andrews. Alexander’s writing gives some familiarity to the familial dynamics and there is a tense element as all the conflicts seemingly come to a head at the dinner table. Head of the family, Adam (Justin Kirk), does not want his daughter to be “ruined” by this break of tradition while his wife, Lisa (Amy Davidson) is a support for her daughter, wanting Miriam to explore all her dreams and not just in her head. Isacc (Connor Esterson) and Elijah (Henry Leith) are Miriam’s brothers with the latter being an unsporting challenging sibling contracting to the younger brother wanting to keep Miriam’s secret. There’s also the grandparents Rivka (Laura Gardner) and Shlomo (Allan Wasserman) who also don’t seem to approve of Miram’s groundbreaking Bat Mitzvah. Every character, although Miriam is the focus, has their own clear personality and view. On the positive side the playful Shlomo doesn’t seem to have an opinion on Miriam’s Bat Mitzvah but Rivka, much like Adam, sees it as something wrong. There’s also tension between Rivka and Adam, a clear dislike that almost feels parental in nature. All these dynamics come together perfectly entwined and gives such a rich look at the family and a testament to Alexander’s writing skill and Andrew’s direction as well as well-crafted performances that give extra depth to the characters.
The younger cast carry most of the film and newcomer Pearl Scarlett Gold cultivates the characters' relationships perfectly so you feel every bit of their history. With her brother Elijah, they give some of the best moments as he tries to get the truth out of his sister, trying to get her to slip up in front of their family. If you’ve ever had a sibling disagreement, these moments bring in some tough familiarity.
With identity being such a clear theme, the story is relatable to all no matter the gender or religion of the viewer. “Tradition is a tunnel shaped vision” Lisa scolds her husband near the end of the film and it's such a powerfully delivered line, cutting through the tension but perfectly shows how this film makes it clear that nothing should get in the way of acting on your dreams. It paves the way for a beautiful moment at the end when Miriam, with the support of her mother and skateboarding friend, sheds her fear and combines both her religious studies with skateboarding so she can improve both. It’s a simple message of being true to yourself and living your dream but crafted in a way that adds depth by all involved.
Miriam is about to be screened in various festival runs.