The Unsaid (2022)—Family Over Everything Else

I’ve previously said that short films don’t get the attention and acclaim they deserve from mainstream audiences and that sentiment still rings true. Short films often tell an impactful story with a very limited budget, crew and most importantly, runtime. Which is why short films have to be very careful with using their runtime. And few tell a heartfelt story better than Indranil Banerjee’s The Unsaid! The film revolves around a father and his son, Subho who suffer from a strained relationship after the death of his wife and Subho’s mother. Throughout the film, tensions culminate until Subho confronts his father over his behavior that drove his mother to her death.

One aspect I can say the film excels in is the score. The score, composed by Kingshuk Nath, perfectly conveys a sense of tension when we first meet the father through Subho’s eyes. Nath utilizes low strings and percussions that give the film this ominous sound, almost as if it were a horror film. The score seamlessly transitions into a melancholic Asian instrumental as Subho searches for his dad, immediately stopping when he spots him and then returning to the ominous sound from before. To me, the score is a perfect representation of the feeling of tension and loss that Subho is going through.

Besides the score, the acting was amazing. While Samrat Mukherji did a wonderful job as Subho conveying his anger at his father, to me Barun Chanda as the father was easily the best performance. His subtle movements and changes in facial expression from anger to remorse and sorrow really sell the role of a father who is in a deep stage of grief over the death of his wife. Although he doesn’t quite nail every single line delivery, his nonverbal acting more than made up for this slight shortcoming. Perhaps my favorite moment involving Chanda would have to be his final conversation with his son. I won’t spoil what happened, but his performance during that scene was phenomenal.

The Unsaid won a plethora of awards including Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Director at the DRUK International Film Festival and Best Director at the Istanbul Film Awards to name a few. And this should come off as no surprise as The Unsaid is truly a solid representation of rekindling relationships between family members. Although I was fortunate to have never experienced this kind of strained relationship, I understand how important telling stories like this are to people. Hopefully more films take notice of the example set by Indranil Banerjee’s The Unsaid. With strong performances, music and dialogue, The Unsaid should be on everyone’s immediate watch list!