Writer/director Thomas Mendolia describes the stories he’s interested in telling as ones about “people who are trying — and often failing — to hold on to each other.” That’s the nature of relationships, isn’t it? Humans fail time and time again, especially when it comes to relationships with one another. Forgiveness is a kindness that isn’t always afforded to those who have been hurt, and it may not be accepted either. Mendolia’s Henry’s Ebb is one such story about people trying desperately to hold on to one another and for whom forgiveness might feel elusive.
Henry (Kingston Rumi Southwick) lives with his abusive mom (Ashley Shelton) in a small town in the American South. His only solace is his imaginary friend, Ebb (Banks Repeta). The two have plans to run away together and start a life in the wilderness free from the people who hurt them. Henry wants to make his way to his estranged father’s (Will A. Holland) house, despite the fact that Henry’s dad has made it very clear he wants nothing to do with his son. He has a new wife and a new teenage kid, and there’s simply no room in his life for Henry. During his journey south, Henry comes across strangers, both kind and mean, as he struggles to find a balance with Ebb’s control over his mind.
Henry’s Ebb sounds like a play on words that references Sigmund Freud’s concept of the id, the ego, and the superego. Freud defines the id as an unconscious part of the mind that acts on a person’s impulses. That usually means expressions of violence and aggression. As Henry’s imaginary best friend, Ebb is Henry’s means of distancing himself from the anger he feels and controlling how he acts on it. Henry and Ebb debate whether or not Bruce Banner knows what he’s doing when he’s the Hulk. It’s clearly a manifestation of his concerns about the growing anger inside of him and how he struggles to find a way to live with it. Henry has never seen an adult model good anger management skills, so how could anyone be surprised that this is his way of processing his situation.
Ford Films
Southwick is heartbreaking as Henry. For much of the movie, we see him bracing his body for impact. Clenching himself so tightly to keep the horrors of his life from bothering him, but of course, everything bothers him. He’s a kid with a father who ran away when things got hard and a mother who’s abusive. Even his imaginary friend is a source of pain. When Henry finally breaks it’s a watershed moment that reverberates from the screen, thanks to Southwick’s grounded performance. After all this time trying to get to an intangible idea of a “home,” Henry realizes that the people in his life who were supposed to take care of him from the get-go, as they stand now, cannot give him the security he needs.
Henry’s Ebb weaves elements of horror and magical realism throughout the film. Not only with the existence of the imaginary friend, but also moments that veer toward jumpscare sensibilities. It’s a means of Mendolia demonstrating how jarring emotions can be to a teenager. How quickly a wave of anger can rush over one’s self, and the lifelong consequences that can come from it. By not playing Henry’s Ebb as a straight drama, Mendolia is able to introduce Henry’s mental state in a visceral manner. Ebb’s actions are as frightening and out-of-the-blue for Henry as they are for the viewer. Mendolia has given the characters and the audience the sensation that there is no solid ground to find over the course of the runtime, so every time they get a taste of it, it hurts all the more when it’s ripped away.
“I don’t have a good reason. I chose what was easier,” Henry’s father says. Life is constructed out of a series of hard and easy choices. One person’s path of least resistance can create a rocky road for another. Actions have consequences for those making the choices and those who are living where the ripples can reach. Henry’s Ebb doesn’t end in a place of resolution or forgiveness, but in admittance of the shortcomings in each character’s life. To forgive doesn’t mean to forget, but Henry’s Ebb does ask how the process of renewal can begin.
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