Arrival: A Short and Very Sweet Coming Out Film

It’s 2023 and so, surely, no one needs to fear coming out as LGBTQ anymore?

If that’s the case then no one told the Chechen authorities who seem, currently, to be paving the way towards a new dark-age for those who do not identify as hetero.

Rare was the person, ever, who was able to spring blithely and fully-formed from the metaphorical closet but in many countries it is still almost impossible to do so without some form of repudiation, denunciation or reprobation.

So this short film, for me, was something of a breath of fresh air. Arrival tells the story of a young man who has a close bond with his mother.  Yet when he moves to the big city and not only discovers himself but also the love of his life, he is unable to share this amazing happening with his mother.  To see how this is resolved you will have to watch this beautifully made animated short film, written, directed and animated by Alex Myung.

Even today, in the most liberal of societies with the most liberal of parents, people still struggle to share their true nature with their loved ones leading to a ripple effect which makes everyone unhappy.  You could see this short two ways: first it is super-contemporary and very political. It is, after all, societal structure and its dictat that to be ‘normal’ is to fit in which makes so many young LGBTQ people unhappy and as such this is a plea for change and for enlightenment.

At the same time this is also (and predominantly) a very, very sweet story about the relationship between a mother and son and how, ultimately, their bond overcomes the obstacles that the social order puts in its way.