Shorts : Cap (2019)
In 2019, the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) connected with HBO and created a short film competition as an opportunity to give new voices the chance to be heard on a greater scale. I was not aware of the competition at the time, but recently, while looking for something to write on, I discovered Cap, the winner of the competition, written and directed by Marshall Tyler. It’d been a while since I wrote about a short film for DOOMonFILM, so I decided to give it a spin.
Manny Bennett (Dusan Brown) decides to give his limited edition cap an opportunity to see the light of day in hopes of impressing a girl, but while waiting to pick up his younger sister Kara (Ellie Grace Siler) at a local park, a bully (Diego Alvizar) snatches the cap off of Manny’s head. Frustrated and defeated, Manny tells his father Victor (Tunde Adebimpe) and mother Amelia (Media Senghore) about the stolen cap, and after a few levels of family deliberation, Victor accompanies Manny to the park the following day to retrieve the cap. Unfortunately, the situation escalates quickly and dangerously, drastically altering the lives of the entire Bennett family.
For a film that clocks in at just under 20 minutes, the range and depth in which the issue of impoverished areas and their connection to random acts of violence is powerfully stunning. Most directors would have sensationalized the gun violence, or made a big show about the perception and reality of manhood, but Marshall Tyler wisely opts for showing the full scope of these all too familiar occurrences. Context is given for the adoration of the cap, as well as the work done to obtain it and it’s intended function. The cap creates initial frustration by not fulfilling its intended function, only for that frustration to be amplified by the actions of the bully. An attempt at a teachable moment is made, but sadly, the world often does not care about teachable moments, leading to the tragic midpoint of the short film.
It is at this point, however, that the film chooses to widen its perspective, which is where the powerful moments really begin to sink in. The shock of Victor’s sudden death is immediately compounded by Manny’s triggered revenge reaction. We are then immediately whisked into the the tragic aftermath that many films tend to skip, but in turn, have the most impact : Manny immediately being whisked into the system, a lack of time for Amelia to mourn for Victor due to Manny’s situation, the impact on Kara and the lack of attention she is given in the wake of such a major loss, and the therapeutic attempts Amelia makes to find some sort of understanding. Tyler even leaves us on the note that these tragedies are not isolated incidents by allowing a number of mothers who faced similar circumstances to share their stories during the credits.
The black and white photography gives the film a bittersweet sense of timelessness, which serves as a cold reminder that this story can easily become the reality for far too large a slice of our population. The cinematography is very much direct and in your face, forcing us as viewers to deal with the emotions on a nearly identical level to the characters we are presented with. Dusan Brown gives a strong performance for such a young man in a very alpha-male situation, which is further punctuated by Tunde Adebimpe’s attempt at stern peace in hopes of teaching his son a lesson. Medina Senghore carries grief equal to the tragedy we are presented with, but allows a slight ray of light at the end in hopes of carrying us through without any shred of optimism, despite the gravity of the story.
With HBOMax finding its footing in the streaming game, it would be interesting to see them expand more into the world of short films, similar to Amazon Prime. Perhaps HBOMax could fill the same void that VICE attempted to with their brief run at platforming short films, which in turn can hopefully give exposure to new directors and help expand the creative range of Hollywood.
