If You Were Me (2003)

Shorts that make you think.

I cannot guarantee that this will be a spoiler-free review, but most major spoilers should be avoided. That being said, this review will be organized based on each short in the order they were presented.

"The Weight of Her": This was definitely one of the best shorts out of the whole set. This short succeeded the most at world building, at allowing us to see the flaws of her society, and our own in the process. Her bleak attitude and lack of expression only resonated with how we would feel as an audience when faced with the harshness of Korean society. This short had the highest rewatch value, and I have seen this short independently several times, even before settling down to watch the whole omnibus today. Overall, I would give this short a 9/10.

"The Man with an Affair": I was confused through much of this until I reached the ending. I feel like there was too much to derail from the actual message that should have been brought out. Even then, I still feel that there was at least some purpose to some of the scenes, such as collecting the salt. I would give this short a 7/10.

"Crossing": This is presented as a series of shorts within the one short itself. There isn't much of a storyline, which could be to its detriment, but it is presented as realistic encounters for one who is disabled. Overall, not one of the better shorts on here, and I'd give it a 6.5/10.

"Tongue Tied": This one was amazing. It was just gruesome, and almost stimulated my gag reflex. But that's what it was supposed to do for sure, since who'd go to the lengths of a surgery for perfect English? We live in a society. I would give this an 8.5/10.

"Face Value": This was not particularly memorable. I feel like the director forced us to glean so much information out of only two or three conversations between the main characters. I was confused at the end, and not in a good way. I would give this short a 5.5/10.

"N.E.P.A.L.: Never Ending Peace and Love" - NEPAL was based on the real life story of Chandra Kumari Gurung. I know that this will be one of the more memorable shorts. It felt so real, but also so hopeless. You are left wondering "Damn, how could they do this?". Along with "The Weight of Her", this short has a high rewatch value and it is likely that I would see it multiple more times. I would give this short an 8.5/10.

I was too lazy to add up the ratings for each individual short, so my overall score is a 7.5/10 for this movie. Were it not for the boring and confusing shorts, I would have given this movie a higher score. However, I understood that each short was thought provoking regardless. This is a must watch, especially if you are a person of color or you have experienced some sort of discrimination throughout your life. If you cannot watch all of the shorts, definitely get through "The Weight of Her" and "Never Ending Peace and Love".

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