Programmer's Note

In an era when the United States continues to reel from years of economic body blows, writer/director Bryan Wizemann has crafted a film that explores the human impact of the economic meltdown through the eyes of two unforgettable characters.

Angela (Lauren Ambrose) is a young, single mother to Sunny (Audrey P. Scott). They live in Las Vegas, a city among the hardest hit by recent financial upheaval. Angela is clearly devoted to her daughter, and even though loneliness, fatigue and money worries underscore most of her waking hours, she delights in Sunny’s company, counts herself lucky to have a job and a roof over their heads, and finds some comfort in her friendship with co-worker Max (Dylan Baker).

One day Angela’s boss (David Conrad) alludes to a money-making scheme that anyone less stressed would find questionable — but Angela sees a rare opportunity for herself and her daughter. Soon her efforts to participate in the dubious enterprise set off a chain of events that send her careening like a pinball. The pressure builds until Angela is faced with an impossible choice: keep trying to make things work, or let it all go for the promise of something better.

Photographed with a sensitive observational aesthetic, Think of Me is filled with narrative twists and slow-burning surprises. Ambrose’s performance, arguably her best, captures Angela’s struggle not to succumb to the hailstorm her life has become, and certainly not to reveal any of the tensions to Sunny. She’s well matched by Scott as a practical child who bears up well against disappointment yet never ceases to envision a solution around every corner.

The events in Think of Me build carefully to an emotionally powerful climax, and the ending is a triumphant reaffirmation of everything we’re urged to hold on to in difficult times.