Little Fish (2021)

Full review: Slated to premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and ultimately postponed due to Covid-19, _Little Fish_ is the victim of terrible timing. The rights were purchased in late 2020, but Little Fish did not get released until April 2021, a full year into the pandemic. It is not the victim of timing simply due to the delay, but also because _Little Fish_ is about a pandemic. It’s difficult for audiences to muster the desire to see this film while the pandemic continues to rage with no end in sight.

“Little Fish” is a heartbreaking, emotionally draining, end of days love story. The World is in the midst of a pandemic, but this neuroinflammatory affliction takes something more from people than just their lives, it destroys memory. Much like Alzheimer’s disease, if NIA is contracted  memories are erased, leaving the ones you love unaware of who you are or where they live.    “ Little Fish” Follows newlywed’s Jude ( Jack O’Connell ) and Emma ( Olivia Cooke ) along with their best friends Ben ( Raul Castillo ) and Samantha ( Soko ) as they are given devastating news. The microcosmic focus on the two couples is extremely effective. Well aware of World events unfolding around them, Plane crashes, car crashes, people going missing “Little Fish” just centres on the two couples as they battle to save their relationships as the pandemic takes its toll on both couples. As the narrative in “Little Fish” jumps timelines showing before and after NIA the deterioration in memory, particularly Jude, becomes emotionally devastating. Can someone who was so in love not remember anything of their partner or can their partner continue loving someone who is a shadow of their former self?  A beautiful , gut punch of a movie.