Writer/director Jonny Durgan’s short film G.S.W. poses a heck of an ethical question. What would you do if you were a paramedic and suspected the patient in your ambulance may be responsible for shooting up your child’s school? It’s certainly a scenario that no parent ever wants to imagine, but as the premise of Durgan’s short film, it creates nerve-jangling tension.
The short stars Genevieve O’Reilly as the paramedic Beth. She and her co-worker, Jo (Kya Brame), tend to a man in the back of the ambulance who has a gunshot wound in his chest. Like any good paramedic, they do what they can to save the man’s life. However, a few minutes into the runtime, Beth learns that there was an active shooter at her child’s elementary school. Based on the few details and tidbits, they suspect the man in their ambulance is the shooter. This causes Beth to lash out and react, as most mothers would.
Though this short is only seven minutes long, it’s rife with tension and a compelling performance by O’Reilly, whose character has to deal with the unimaginable, the horror of what transpired at her child’s school and then the possibility that the shooter just may be the man before her. It’s quite an emotional narrative arc, and the short builds to yet another twist ending.
The subject matter of G.S.W. is certainly a tough sell, especially since mass shootings have unfortunately become so commonplace, in the U.S. at least. In this case, however, we don’t see the shooting occur (thank goodness), only how characters react to the news of it, including a mom placed in a terrible ethical quandary that makes her consider if she should save or let die the man who she assumes is the shooter.
G.S.W. is a nail-biting short. Its premise is certainly disturbing and really imagines a parent’s worst nightmare becoming a reality. O’Reilly gives an emotional and gripping performance, and the short builds to quite a harrowing conclusion.
