This short film opens with a horizontally split screen showing a car pulling up somewhere at night and a silent, dark house. In the house, an abused wife (Jude Salazar) and infant daughter attempting to escape the husband (Luis Carazo) as he sleeps late at night. The film is described as “a slasher about generational trauma by way of domestic violence,” which is a great deal to pack into six minutes, and the slasher aspect doesn’t really seem necessary. The husband has a knife and a mask and kills two people helping the mother escape before removing the mask and telling his wife she cannot leave because he cannot live without her. The domestic violence itself is terrifying enough and the tropes of the slasher film unnecessary, although they do make the point about violence against women by masked killers is a staple of horror cinema. What we fans enjoy is something that, encountered in real life is neither fun nor something to enjoy.

The title comes from one of the wife’s few lines, handing the crying infant to her friend as she prepares to drive away from the abusive husband. “With your life,” she tells the other woman, which (spoiler alert) turns out to be prophetic. Again, there are a lot of ideas and emotions packed into a very short run time, and the film rushes from one to the next. I would actually welcome a longer version of this story which allows the audience time to absorb the depth of what we are seeing.  Having said that, it is well acted, and after the climax, the short closes with information on reaching out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Writer/Director Miguel Martinez shows some skill in the cinematography, and the film’s heart is very much in the right place. A little more clarity and perhaps a little less slasher would have congealed the elements in a manner more emotionally effective.

7 out of 10

With Your Life

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 6.5 minutes

Directed by Miguel Martinez

Written by Miguel Martinez