Review of the Film Because We Are Too Many

The Sensitive Spirit of Children and What Haunts Us from the Past

From the very first scene, the film begins to describe its world to us; it feels as though we are inside a nightmare, or that time is not the present. In any case, there is an otherworldly, unconventional, and even unsettling quality to these opening scenes that makes us realize something is out of place. The soundtrack, with its haunting melodies and plucked string instruments, emphasizes the strangeness of the situation. After this brief prelude, we seem to return to the present, to the year 2020, waking up in a house alongside Angela. At the same time, the city awakens as well. The mother and son leave the house, spend time in the local park, and the mother visits a local organization in search of work.

The relationship between the mother and son forms the heart of the film, and from the outset, understanding the nature of their bond, the mother’s feelings toward her child and what she does for him, as well as the child’s perspective on his mother, become the central question for the audience. The moments we witness of their private lives are, in their own way, extraordinary and help us understand their situation as two lonely individuals who only have each other. This is especially true from the moment we hear the mother’s voice as the film’s narrator, which highlights these deeply significant aspects of character development. The director, Eve Natasha Leonard-Walsh, has skillfully used the tools of her craft to bring us closer to her characters step by step. These tools might include depicting the characters’ dreams and sleep or using the mother’s voice as a narrator. While we see brilliant moments in the mother and son’s life and become acquainted with their world—moments filled with maternal affection, love, and attachment—the mother’s narration tells us that all her days feel the same. Through her words, we realize that the monotony and struggle of coping with the tediousness of life are what’s happening within the character. However, what is happening inside the child remains

hidden from us. The fact that the child, at five years old, is still unable or uninterested in connecting with others is notable.

The way the filmmaker approaches the autistic child is particularly noteworthy. Without resorting to existing stereotypes, the director takes us into the child’s inner world. We come to know the child through his everyday behaviors, his emotional connection with the mother, and through ordinary scenes of life. We recognize the child as a human being with his own identity, and this is Eve Natasha Leonard-Walsh’s triumph: her ability to create characters. From the very first scenes, the director’s effort to craft characters begins with creating simple, everyday situations. At the same time, the timely use of the narrator’s voice, which speaks of the character’s innermost feelings, allows us to access deeper layers of understanding the characters. In this regard, the film essentially extends the inner lives of each character to the entirety of the film. As we gradually realize, the passage of time in Because We Are Too Many differs from the flow of realist films. It is a blend of stream of consciousness that constantly moves us through time, in a way that we come to understand that the prolongation of certain moments is due to the experiences the characters are going through. In fact, what the director does is externalize the inner emotions, feelings, and perceptions of the characters. In this case, there is no difference between the mother as the narrator and the child as a character. The inner worlds of both are explored by the director in various ways.

One of the most challenging tasks for many filmmakers worldwide is long-duration filming in confined spaces. It’s worth noting that working in enclosed spaces requires significant creativity and a tremendous amount of energy to avoid repetition. When filming in confined spaces, you often face the issue of shots becoming repetitive and tedious. Due to the limitation of angles, after a few sequences, scenes generally start to feel similar and redundant. As a result, many filmmakers avoid lingering too long in a single confined setting. However, Because We Are Too Many is bold in this regard, spending a significant amount of time in enclosed spaces without becoming tiresome. The director knows how to address the challenges of filming in confined spaces by using varied framing and focusing on unique, rare human moments. But these confined spaces are not just the home of the main characters; they also include the grandmother’s house, the school, and other locations, all of which are enclosed. These enclosed spaces symbolically reflect the characters’ entrapment within certain frameworks. They are compelled to continue living in these unfavorable situations, whether at home, school, or elsewhere. At one point, there is a reference to breaking out of this confined environment, but we understand that even leaving the house ultimately means entering another enclosed space.

One particularly bold and captivating aspect is the film’s movement through time. By delving into the past and exploring what haunts the characters from their history, the film effectively probes their present. The film locates the roots of the characters’ current struggles in their past, showing how the delicate spirit of a child is wounded amidst the storms of adversity and hardship. Because We Are Too Many succeeds in creating a complex, multidimensional film with various layers. By focusing on human relationships and exploring the psychological aspects of its characters’ lives, it essentially conducts a profound study of the emotional wounds of people in our era. The fact that the director herself, Eve Natasha Leonard-Walsh, and her son play the roles of the mother and son greatly aids her as a director in achieving the exact emotional tone she seeks in their performances. By taking on the lead role, she is able to deliver the reactions, expressions, and behaviors she needs, and remarkably, she also excels at directing this intricate film. The cinematography is exceptional in its own right, and the editing and sound design are executed with precision. The frames are meticulously crafted, and the film’s rhythm is artfully maintained from beginning to end. Eve Natasha Leonard-Walsh has a bright future in filmmaking, and her feature film Because We Are Too Many is a remarkable and respectable work.