Badge 38 (2017)

BADGE 38: Honor Thy Father Perhaps the diciest of human relationships and the one with the most enduring history of "bad blood" is that between fathers and sons. So, it is always a pleasant surprise to find a man who not only respects but also loves and stands in awe of his father. This is perhaps the most obvious thematic element of Paul McKenna's MFA creative thesis Badge 38, a story based on an event from his childhood while his father (and namesake) served as a police officer in New Jersey's Morris County. Although only 7:12 in running time, Badge 38 uses every second to honor McKenna's father along with the "hundreds of people able to turn their lives around because [he] treated them with dignity and respect, welcoming them into our family." Upon being saddled with a last-minute prisoner transfer, McKenna's character, only once named as "Mac," calls home before picking up his young son for a scouting event. Trying to reassure any doubts in his wife, he tells her, "It'll be all right." This line of dialogue becomes nicely ironic given that the evening ends with a bomb being recovered from the family vehicle, a discovery made only because the young man he had earlier escorted to prison relayed that information to authorities after hearing about the attempt from another inmate. More than what is said, this story moves along based primarily on the unspoken: the young son's pleading eyes convincing his father to uncuff the young man so he can eat a burger, the discomfort of a waitress when she realizes that the reason the young black man fumbling with his hamburger is the results of his being handcuffed, the prisoner looking back at the young boy and realizing what could've been but for some bad choices. As a result, reaction shots and facial expressions make up the key element to this short film. It is the collection of personal moments that really make the characters here empathetic and bring the viewer into a personal investment in the work.