Short Film Review: Generational Well – A Look at the Unbroken Cycle of Familiar Trauma.

This short, which had its world premiere at the 2025 LA Shorts International Film Festival, is directed by Jack Serra. With a runtime of 18 minutes, it tells an intriguing story that tackles unresolved trauma and the cyclical nature of emotional wounds within families.

At its core is Stevie, a troubled woman nearing her delivery date. She is haunted by her past, most painfully, the non-existent relationship with her father. Unknowingly, she seems to be searching for answers, closure, or maybe just a sliver of hope to convince herself that things might still turn out better for her and her child.

When the film opens, we see Stevie waking up in the back of a speeding cop car, a look of surprise and confusion on her face. It’s the kind of opening that makes you instantly curious, wondering what happened and how she ended up there. Very quickly, you notice that there’s something about the police officer driving that she cannot ignore. Soon, we learn that it is because he bears a striking resemblance to her late father.

After her arrest, her husband, Gale (played by Mario Silva)leaves her, pushing Stevie further into a downward spiral. In a moment of recklessness, she flushes her medication and decides to track down the police officer, Thomas Hernandez (played by Corey Landis).

Carly Tatiana Pandža delivers Stevie with so much conviction that you can feel the weight she’s carrying. Every glance, posture, and pause embodies a woman who is broken yet desperate for reasons to hold on. She is a woman uncertain about the world she’s about to bring a child into, and unsure of the mother she can be. Through Carly’s performance, Stevie becomes someone the viewer instinctively wants to help. But the truth the film makes clear is that Stevie is her own greatest danger, both to herself and the child she’s about to have, if she cannot break free from her addiction.

Stevie’s search leads her to Thomas’s daughter’s soccer game, where a closer look only deepens her conviction about the resemblance. Her mother visits her, and an old photo she shows Stevie confirms why she is so fixated on this police officer.

A brief but telling flashback scene reveals the heart of Stevie’s pain. We see how her father rejected her after she told him she was pregnant for the first time. In just those moments, we understand the damage and distance between them, as well as the depth of Stevie’s fears. She, too, had become an alcoholic just like her father.

She later stalks Thomas to an AA meeting. As he speaks, she imagines a version of herself who is sober, reconciled with Gale, and raising her son. A vision that rather unsettles her instead of bringing her some hope. Back in the present, Stevie sits frozen in the meeting as she realises that her water has broken.

The camera movements and sound design seem almost like characters themselves, deliberately shaped to add to the storytelling. From the opening frame to the final shot, the cinematography and score work in unison. You are met with a brooding, imposing, and seemingly charged tone. This has you sitting with a feeling of dread that makes you anticipate something terrible is yet to happen. This intensity keeps you locked into the narrative, and rightfully so, as the film rewards close attention to detail. You might not get its themes and its underlying message if you are not attentive enough. And this same strength could be the film’s Achilles’ heel.

Regardless, ‘Generational Well‘ is both emotionally unsettling and deeply human, a compact story about the way old wounds can bleed into new beginnings if left untreated.

I will score this 3.5 out of 5 stars.