"i've had this film on my watch list for a while i can't remember why i don't know how it got there all i knew was it was made by a young lad in the south of england so i was assuming it's probably about relationship or a writer who has writer's block so i was extremely surprised when i pressed play to hear american accents i thought is am i am i watching the right film what is this and see that the characters in it were dressed like the settlers in Plymouth new england 1620 something like that it's very confusing when you can know and see that they're closer to Plymouth old england the short life of jackson bloom is the second feature film from writer director oliver walker it follows two brothers who embark on the journey of a lifetime to see the ocean all while being hunted down by a detective for a murder they may or may not have committed so yeah as i said these two pilgrim pilgrim looking brothers confused the hell out of me at the start but it wasn't long before the first laugh came and i just accepted it it kind of flavors kind of flavors that can make a grown man calm coolie okay we're doing this sort of dress up sort of film you would do with your friends but just a very polished version that's interesting but then the homicide detective turns up and he's also appears to be from a different era but while we're also kind of in the present because in the middle of one conversation about inventing inventing cider one of them randomly just says 9 11 was an inside job and then they carry on talking like they're in the 1600s very confusing this sort of meta element to it and it's something that i've grown to hate in recent years where a film will do something like this and be like oh yeah we're in the past but actually it's the present as well do you see it's meta do you see nudge nudge wingling do you get it do you get it that doesn't happen here though like there isn't a point where it explains why why it's like this or anything so you just you just let it go and then very slowly you realize you're really into this these kids in fancy dress you actually care about them you care about their big dreams and you you want them to get to the ocean and that's storytelling that is great storytelling all the other stuff is just window dressing like the storytelling suspends your disbelief you just go along with it you go along with these characters until the bitter end or the cider end so it's a film that takes a wild swing and hits it out the park you know even though it is hilarious there is still heart there and you do care and it never feels like it's taking the piss out of what it's doing or trying to not be serious about it it's just being funny it's just comedy it's comedy and it's great storytelling like i said it hits it out the park and then and then in the last act it goes out of the park and it picks the ball up again and hits it into the stratosphere seriously it's mental it's earnest it's funny eccentric psychedelic all the ways that it wouldn't be if someone came along and had to sign off on it or hand some money over and that's why i watch indy films you don't get surprises like this in the cinema anymore so if you like films like other any other films like this so just check it out it's free to watch on vimeo we are indy mdb for everything indie"