Above Us All

In her melancholy film ABOVE US ALL, Eugenie Jansen depicts how, with no respect to the magnitude of one’s grief, the world keeps turning. According to 11-year-old protagonist Shay, she and her family are “ordinary people living an ordinary life” in rural Australia. Her Flemish father Koen is funny. Her Aboriginal mother is tidy. Her little brother Kelab aspires to be a professional wrestler. And Shay is a self-professed spoiled kid who enjoys off-roading. Yet, their seemingly ordinary existence is disrupted when Shay’s mother becomes ill and soon after passes away. Within months, Koen moves Shay and Kelab closer to his extended family in Ypres, Belgium, an area still geographically scarred by a devastating WWI battle. But Shay has no interest in moving on, despite Koen’s desperate efforts to attend to her needs. Composed almost entirely of 360° panoramic shots, Jansen’s film beautifully interweaves the diverse religious, philosophical, scientific, and historical ways that “ordinary people” of all ages cope with loss. (In English and Flemish with subtitles) – E.B.