Okay (2026)

-Written by Edmund Robertson. 

For many people, the concept of life after death is just as nebulous and unknown as the vast unexplored reaches of outer space or the depths of the ocean in that we can only really imagine what the afterlife must be like while we are still alive to ponder it. With this comparison in mind, it is fitting that Writer-Director Andrew Kightlinger’s short film OKAY takes place in a house by the beach where the ocean can be seen stretching infinitely toward the horizon. In this house, an old widow named Loretta (Kathleen Quinlan) mourns for her husband George (David Warshofsky) yet is convinced that he is still alive somewhere in space, desperately using a communication system in her attic to attempt to get in touch with him.

As we see glimpses of Loretta’s happier past with George, OKAY makes excellent use of switching between aspect ratios, alternating between a 4:3 ratio to represent the isolated mundanity of her present life and a much wider cinematic ratio representing her memories and visions of George. This presentation works to situate the narrative through the perspective of Loretta as she seeks fulfillment in spending time with her missing husband rather than admitting herself to a retirement home as her daughter Abby (Amy Huckabay) suggests. OKAY also makes great use of editing and cross-cutting, especially in a sequence where Loretta becomes increasingly impatient with her day-to-day life. As a result, her routine acts of getting up and making breakfast in the morning become more aggressive, reflected by the subtle quick cutting between shots of her frantically scribbling in her journal and rubbing her face in frustration. 

Despite the cinematography establishing the boundaries between memory and present, the line between those perceptions start to become more ambiguous once George returns to Loretta towards the end of the short. As George reappears in Loretta’s living room with a flash of light, the aspect ratio becomes widescreen as if to suggest that Loretta’s memories and present life have merged together into one. While the idea that OKAY uses outer space as an allegory for the afterlife is largely left up to one’s interpretation, Kightlinger’s script and Quinlan’s performance still believably capture the emotions of a grieving widow so well that the narrative constantly reads as a meditation on death despite its science fiction angle.

Regardless of whether you believe that George actually did return from space or if his return was simply imagined by Loretta shortly before her death, it is clear that OKAY carries with it a sense of melancholy even as it ends with the couple reuniting. The ambiguity of OKAY’s ending brings to mind the simultaneous fear and amazement toward the unknown that was depicted in Close Encounters of the Third Kind where humanity’s relationship with space inspires both terror and wonder in those who are fascinated with it. This combination of existential dread and curiosity could also be said of the ocean as OKAY ends on Loretta and George walking on the beach toward the waves together, venturing to an unknown world beyond our own imaginations.

Written and Directed by Andrew Kightlinger.

Starring Kathleen Quinlan, David Warshofsky, Amy Huckabay.

8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING