Hey Brooklyn

“Hey Brooklyn” is a heart-warming short film directed by BYU student Cameron Babcock. During fall break of 1994, eight year old, Brooklyn and her mom, Tina, are threatened with eviction from their humble home. With the help of her young friend, Austin, Brooklyn has three days to raise $700 to help her mom pay rent or they will be forced to leave their home behind.

What made this film shine was the real moments between Brooklyn (Kalea Atkinson) and Tina (StacyLyn Bennett). For example, Brooklyn and Tina have a moment when the power has been turned off when Tina is exhausted and frustrated with herself and Brooklyn asks her to dance. For a moment we hope that Tina will take her up on her offer and dance around the kitchen, but the fatigue we see from StacyLyn’s performance feels genuine and familiar to anyone that has ever put in a 12 hour day and comes home to children that crave attention.

The relationship between Brooklyn and her friend Austin (Aiden Beagley) is full of laughter, hijinks and compassion. I was impressed by the performances by these young actors and am excited to see where their careers lead. I also enjoyed the performances of Iris (Cathleen Mason) who is so good at transforming into her character as Tina’s mother that I really felt they had to be related in real life!

The finale of “Hey Brooklyn” will grab your heart. Major shout out to StacyLyn Bennett for her performance as Tina. Her final scene is full of such compassion and delivered with such conviction that I forgot I was watching a film and felt like I was transported in the room with the family.

Overall, “Hey Brooklyn” is a super cute family film that hits on topics of accepting yourself (faults and all), allowing yourself to accept help from others (so hard to do), and acknowledging a higher power that can bring peace into our lives.