Lili Peper’s short film ‘Mia, Indeterminate’ is a comedy/drama that thrives in the tension between love and obligation, between hope and exasperation. Written by Shahira Kudsi, this 20-minute short throws us into a single day of mounting pressure in Mia’s life, a day that feels like a slow-motion implosion.
Mia (Olivia Welch) has her hands full. Her mother, Bird (Suzanne Cryer), has moved in, bringing with her a chaotic blend of charm, instability, and a wildly misplaced faith in an online investment scheme. Mia is skeptical – of the scheme, of Bird’s ability to cope, of her own ability to hold everything together. With rent overdue and emotional exhaustion setting in, Mia is drowning in responsibility. Quite literally.
Cinematographer Siobhan McCarthy captures their world with intimate, handheld camerawork, grounding the film in a naturalistic style while framing moments of stark contrast – like the morning routine that instantly highlights the gulf between mother and daughter. But it’s in the film’s most striking scene, Mia slowly rising from the bottom of a swimming pool, that Peper lets metaphor take hold. It’s eerie, poetic, and a perfect encapsulation of Mia’s psyche – submerged, heavy, desperate for air.
Cryer’s Bird is a force – offbeat, idealistic, teetering between lovable eccentric and frustrating liability. Welch plays Mia with a quiet, simmering exhaustion, her concern for her mother at odds with the crushing weight of being the adult in the relationship. Their chemistry is superb, crackling with unspoken history and the kind of friction that only deep familial love can produce.
Darkly comedic in the way only aburdity can be, ‘Mia, Indeterminate’ understands that sometimes, life’s most overwhelming moments are also its most ridiculous. And sometimes, all you can do is tread water. An entertaining and heartfelt watch.
