What we imagined – Film Review
Directed by Shubhavi Arya
WARNING! This review contains SPOILERS!
Every so often, a short film sneaks up on me and leaves a mark far larger than its runtime suggests. What We Imagined, directed by Shubhavi Arya, is only three minutes long, yet it carries the weight of something much bigger. The story comes from the imaginations of two young girls, Lucy Bilecki and Naomi Steinberg, who not only star in the film but also infuse it with a childlike sincerity that feels both refreshing and disarming. Their tale unfolds in a magical park where two children, Trisha and Saja, meet across a divide, and what begins as a simple encounter becomes a reflection of transformation, truth, and the bravery of being different.
Arya frames their vision with such care that I felt as though I was stepping directly into the girls’ dreamscape. The digital world is playful and whimsical, yet it never loses its grounding in the very real emotions behind it. There’s a purity in the way these young storytellers confront big themes—acceptance, belonging, forgiveness—that feels unfiltered by cynicism. When the message arrives, “Be who you are, even if you’re still figuring it out,” I felt it hit with surprising force. Spoken by two children, it carries the kind of wisdom we tend to overlook as adults, and it reminded me how often the truest things come from voices we least expect.
Technically, the short is polished with a digital landscape that has just enough roughness to feel handmade and personal, which suits the spirit of the story perfectly. The characters, animated with charm, become vehicles for bigger truths, and Arya’s direction ensures that the vision never loses clarity. The pacing is gentle, the tone hopeful, and the film feels like an open invitation to pause and breathe for a moment.
By the end, I wasn’t just watching a film—I was remembering. Remembering what it felt like to believe in magic, to think the world could change if we only imagined it differently. That’s a rare gift for any film to give, especially one created by such young voices. What We Imagined is more than a debut for a student filmmaker—it’s a promise. A glimpse at the kind of stories Shubhavi Arya, and these two remarkable girls, are capable of bringing into the world.
