It is a uniquely involving experience to watch a story unfold that leaves you unsure about the location of the emotional spectrum you should be most loyal to - The Caretaker achieves precisely this state of confusion. The film is an unsettling story, coupled with a strange sense of darkness, acquired effortlessly by introducing us to the life of a man who serves as the carer of his elderly aunt. 

Aunt Fanny, who remains incapacitated in several ways, has become a burden on Carl who never saw himself having had to take care of her for the duration of the time he has now been roped into. As the story progresses, its thematic concerns span the compulsions of the familial space, the frailty of old age and all that it entails, and the financial, practical issues pertaining to existence. 

Being a carer sometimes becomes a role that is harder than the experiences of the patient themselves, and yet, the film ensures that what you feel for its protagonist is far from sympathy. Portrayed most beautifully by Sal Rendino, Carl's indifference, resentment, frustrations and anger are brought to the fore for the viewer to witness. Additionally, the narrative does a remarkable job of portraying the relationship with his aunt, offering a conclusion that is imbued with notable and satisfying unpredictability.

The Caretaker | Short Film of the Month

When an issue is looked at with sincere meticulousness, no matter how localized, it attains a universality of tone. Consequently, the concern and the urgent need to secure accessibility for disabled people in New York's subway stations, becomes a call for more inclusive and accessible public spaces for anyone living with a disability in any part of the world. It is in this manner that the documentary becomes an engagement with a subject of extreme relevance and note. 

 The voices that are employed to bolster this conversation, New York State Assembly officials, Metropolitan Transportation Authority representatives, and of course, those who are at the forefront of the protests, demanding more accessible subway stations for the disabled, are lucid, comprehensive and powerful, ensuring that the narrative conveys its intentions in an unequivocal manner. A 2020-product, the film also marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, serving as a disconcerting reminder of how far not only American society, but the entire global space, remains from being inclusive for those living with a disability. 

 To assert its intentions with the urgency required for the issue, the film further invokes the memory of twenty-one-year old Malaysia Goodson who lost her life in January 2019 as she carried a stroller with her one-year-old daughter down the stairs at a subway station in New York. In the process, it brings to life the pain, loss, grief left in the wake of the authorities' lackadaisical approach to the issue, and their inability to act, and instead spend crucial resources on beautifying stations that serves little practical purpose. As it draws the viewer's attention to the systemic discrimination against disabled people, causing great difficulty for them in finding a house, getting hired, or simply commuting from one part of the city to another, the film makes a strong case for the cause, ensuring that it does not simply present a concern, but encourages a thought pattern that might one day hopefully take the form of reformative action.

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