It deals with themes like depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicide.
Just remember, sometimes people will be lucky to have people who love them, waiting to pick them up when they fall. And sometimes they might not. Luckily, this story has the version where the people who love them do care.
All the characters are clearly damaged in one way or another, but they manage to put those problems aside to be there for Alex in whatever way they can. Some take the subject much more directly, while others simply try to avoid it. I loved how each character showed a facet of the situation.
Obviously, each one comes with their own little dramas, but overall, the message is clear, and the ending feels a certain peace after such a complicated event to handle.
Max's character:
I thought Isaac decided to bring his partner to this get-together was horrible! If I were part of the group, I wouldn't agree. It was a delicate situation, and bringing in a person who has nothing to do with it was totally out of place. It obviously added a plot to the story, but it wasn't right. I loved the relationship he had with Sarah, and I didn't like Kate at all...
Is very different character from the ones I've seen acted this week.
I liked him. I also find it curious that he didn't have much chemistry with any of the girls, and it was weird. I thought he would have.🤔🤔 But anyway, I liked his character.
It's a beautiful, super-short film, with a story that leaves you feeling sentimental.
I almost couldn't find the film, but I hope it's easier to watch in your countries.
Walking through the picturesque streets of Cardinal Hill, you find ( alex valmorida ), the ( 40 ) year old ( groundskeeper at the maplewood inn ) originally from ( Cardinal Hill, WA ). Living alongside them in such a small town, you know that they're ( creative ) and ( secretive ), but what you might not know is that they are a ( witch ), and that they’re hiding something… ―manny jacinto, bisexual, non-binary, and they/he.
Born and raised in Cardinal Hill. Only child to two parents who adore him and taught him the importance of intentional magic. Of not letting their powers take over their lives. The especially cautioned him because of the legacy his mother's family had, descendants from a particularly well known with. Or rather infamously known for being a proponent of dark magic and using it in the worst of ways.
It was part of why the Valmorida's moved to Cardinal Hill a little before Alex was born. So they could raise a child far away from the whispers and rumors. In a place where they could make a name for themselves. His mother is a long team educator at the high school and his father has been a long time employee of the Grimoires though most people probably know him best for the children's story time he does at Riverside Bookstore.
Alex has always been a quiet but content person, they excelled in school and were often a loner but they didn't mind it. They took the loneliness and used it to focus and practice their magic. They have a very personal bond with it and even when around other witches is not that eager to show off. He knows what's in his blood and his mother told him enough horror stories to keep him on the straight and narrow. Even when he was getting bullied in high school, he would take the punches, scared that if he did something he'd end up causing more harm than he was enduring.
He went to college in Portland and loved it, finding a way to get out of his shell more and meeting friends who would help him build his confidence. He was still more on the quiet side but he had explored more of his interests, tried new things, changed his major multiple times and when he graduated he bounced from internship to temp job until his mom connected him to a friend of hers who did equine therapy and needed some people for the summer. And Alex fell in love with it. Or rather he fell in love.
Alex didn't know it was love at first but they knew the moment they saw Linden that it was something real. It took him a few days to work up the courage but thankfully, with the help of a bottle of lemonade, he saw his opportunity and went for it. And to this day it's the best thing he's ever done.
But the worst thing he's ever done was leave them. It wasn't the plan. Alex would rather die than give up mornings next to them, afternoons working side by side with stolen glances and rapidly beating hearts. He had never loved someone so much and he was sure he never would. But life had different plans when he got home one night to find his mother panicked and disheveled, partially drained of her magic and more scared than he had ever seen her. She had been visited by one of her cousins who had become so consumed by dark magic he swore vengeance on the family members that had cast him out and the three Valmorida's were his next targets. Or four, when he learned of Alex's soon to be nuptials.
Alex had stalled but the entire night he had sat up staring at Linden asleep, knowing that he'd never be able to forgive himself if he let anything happen to them. And so he left.
And so the chase began. What happened over the next decade can only be described as the worst adventure of his life. And yet it was in some ways the best connection Alex had ever had to his own magic. And then [REDACTED]. After years of fighting, Alex finally managed to find an end or at least an extended pause to the fight, even if it had required him to access [REDACTED]. Something that has left him forever changed, something he hasn't entirely processed.
After years of searching he finally found a rest. Until he started to hear about the dark magic being practiced back home in Cardinal Hill. He hadn't done all of this fighting just for the home he loved to be jeopardized. He had no choice but to return home.
There's not a day that has gone back that he hasn't thought of Linden. Their head is full thoughts of them, heart full of anguish and regret. They felt the urge to go back so many times but they only knew it would keep putting their loved ones in danger. In order to make it through, they wrote Linden letters as much they could, notebooks full of things they wanted to tell them, apologies they felt they'd never be able to give. They were sure that they wouldn't survive all of this time but they have.
And now they're back, older, plenty more weary and not entirely ready to reconnect with the people he had left behind but he's pretty sure he has no choice now.
