Anastacia, a young woman, writes a letter to her ‘friends and family’ telling her life story. She is a regular woman, trying to follow her path and her dreams. Everything takes a wrong turn when her boss starts acting weird around her and nobody would take her side.

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In ‘Dear Friends and Family’, Barbara Toschi tells the story of thousands of women who are too scared to surface their stories. This short film is a statement against sexual harassment, against power used as a destructive mechanism, against this world going south. Anastacia, played by Lara Gallagher, is the mute scream that can be heard for sure. Her cry for help being ignored amplifies the consequences of her actions later on; she is a time bomb waiting to explode in the faces of all the people who ignored her.

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This short is impeccable from the technical point of view, giving the narrative the proper glow to shine away in the eyes of the viewer. Even though the story is sad and depressing, the way in which it is presented is charming. Another thing that got us to love 'Dear Friends and Family' is the outstanding acting performances from Lara Gallagher and Adam Lennon. She portrays the perfect victim, the woman who follows orders and waits for justice. On the other side, he is the perfect monster, wicked, showing no remorse whatsoever. Their antithetic roles are therefore well mixed in this story of power and revenge and the crucial moment of this film is unexpected and shines a light on the ending.

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We recommend Barbara Toschi’s short to anyone looking for a good and powerful film about power and revenge. While extremely sad, it manages to present the viewers with a twist that no one could ever expect.

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Written by Vlad A. Gheorghiu