Garage Sale

Garage Sale is a poignant film depicting the sorrow of the parents who may have lost their only child recently and the repentance of a person who we tacitly infer may have been responsible for the parents’ misery. The whole plot is based on a deep yet comprehensible series of events that ensue from an unanticipated woe. The quick flashes of the past ensure that the viewers are apprised of the premise, but the reason for the occurrence that has led them to sell their beloved girl’s possessions in a garage sale is left unmentioned.

The film opens to people fervently going through some used things arranged on the driveway – checking for quality, estimating the prices, bargaining for unused toys. They are, however, unmindful of the desolation of the parents. It is understandable that the parents are selling them to move on with their lives by leaving the memories of their daughter surrounding them behind. When Miles(Dustin Smith) walks into the garage sale, we see a man who is genuinely sorry for what he has done. There is also a clue implying the suddenness of the incident when a man who is seen inspecting a stuffed pony talks to Miles and enquires whether he is from the neighbourhood as well.

Miles walks up to John who is resentful of his presence and wants to buy a stuffed monkey from him. He, however, turns around being unable to express his remorse and is stopped in his tracks by John(Faustus McGreeves), who asks why he would think that it was okay for him to be present there. Julie(Karrie Bauman) then mentions something about Miles not being in jail with such a disgust interweaved with anger. By putting these bits of hints together, we could deduce that Miles was responsible for something terrible that has happened to their daughter, but he is sincerely sorry for what he has done. Overriding Julie’s reluctance to let Miles have the stuffed monkey, John gives it to Miles in a way to make him understand the pain they are being put in.

John’s idea of entrusting Miles to sell the remaining items might be to make him understand the sadness connected with selling off the toys which once were prized possessions of their deaf child. Although the sequence of scenes that follow are well presented, there is something missing that could have made this film complete. It is not up to anyone to suggest how a film is to be made save the director, but some images of Miles actions connected to the incident or the display of the intensity of his repentance that could emerge seeing those items being carried away by people could have made a difference in viewers’ perception of things.

The whole setting is gloomy and filled with sadness, and it helped the smooth development of the plot. In a series of flashbacks, Faustus McGreeves establishes a mental image of what once was a happy and content family. The isolation of the incident from the storyline gives Garage Sale a sensible air of melancholy. It is what affords this film with the subtlety expected of a short film.