The story follows Maria, a visually impaired high school student, going through her first day of school being picked on by some classmates who won't stop bothering her. She struggles with her disability, her bullies, and with her inability to understand that it's okay to ask for help sometimes.
This film has a really good storyline that brings attention to people with visual impairments and their struggles. However, it falls short on truly shining a light on this topic. I didn't understand that Maria had a visual impairment until the last minutes of the film and, even then it, is never explicitly stated - some viewers might not understand that Maria is visually impaired at all and rather just think that it's a story about a girl who gets picked on (take note that the bullies never mention her eyesight at all - they're bullying her for other reasons). The best piece of cinematography in the film are the effects when we see the world through different eyes. Instead of what we usually see, a colorful world, we see what Maria sees, a gray one. It's a great piece of cinematography and very interesting too. The locations suit the story. There's a street, multiple rooms at a school and an apartment. These locations are well chosen. There's a special visual effect that shows different visual impairments that plays before the film's ending showing the world - in all its colorful glory - turning into a dull gray. It shows us what Maria is seeing. In the credits, we see other types of color blindness and visual impairments. A cool effect that makes the viewer sympathize with, or at least understand better, people who have visual disabilities. Maria doesn't change much. After adamantly refusing the prospect of needing help, Maria eventually asks someone to help carry her lamp which gives me hope for her. However, throughout the entire film, she's constantly upset, which makes me believe this visual impairment of hers is something new or more recent. She's grieving what she lost - a world of color - at the beginning of the film and again at the end of the film. In the middle, she admits she needs a little help and she realizes it's okay to need and ask for help. That gives me hope that she'll one day come to see the beauty of her world - even without its colors. Carlos Puig Mundó, the director and writer, deserves a huge shoutout. He, like Maria, has a visual disability and therefore, like Maria, has had to learn how to survive in a world not made for people with such impairments. I think his story is really impressive and that there's a certain beauty to the fact that he's bringing to life the stories that occur to him. I like the scene at the end of the film where we can see what Maria sees this entire time. There's a vibrant world - full of color and then something shifts and we see it only in various shades of gray. It made me sad to look at. Color makes things interesting. Gray is boring. And it's also very hard to see anything specific when everything's gray. I felt horrible for Maria. Until that scene I didn't really understand what her disability was or why she needed a lamp.
The film's message is that it's okay to ask for help.The message is kind of lost when, immediately after that, the bullies bully her again. The second message of the film is to shine a light on people with disabilities, like Maria with her visual impairment. Be aware that it contains profanity, shows kids doing risky things that kids might imitate, and contains bullying.
I give One More Day 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. This film would appeal particularly to those with visual impairment issues or other disabilities or have someone in their inner circle of friends and family with those issues.
By Alma K., KIDS FIRST!
The story follows Maria, a visually impaired high school student, going through her first day of school being picked on by some classmates who won't stop bothering her. She struggles with her disability, her bullies, and with her inability to understand that it's okay to ask for help sometimes.
This film has a really good storyline that brings attention to people with visual impairments and their struggles. However, it falls short on truly shining a light on this topic. I didn't understand that Maria had a visual impairment until the last minutes of the film and, even then it, is never explicitly stated - some viewers might not understand that Maria is visually impaired at all and rather just think that it's a story about a girl who gets picked on (take note that the bullies never mention her eyesight at all - they're bullying her for other reasons). The best piece of cinematography in the film are the effects when we see the world through different eyes. Instead of what we usually see, a colorful world, we see what Maria sees, a gray one. It's a great piece of cinematography and very interesting too. The locations suit the story. There's a street, multiple rooms at a school and an apartment. These locations are well chosen. There's a special visual effect that shows different visual impairments that plays before the film's ending showing the world - in all its colorful glory - turning into a dull gray. It shows us what Maria is seeing. In the credits, we see other types of color blindness and visual impairments. A cool effect that makes the viewer sympathize with, or at least understand better, people who have visual disabilities. Maria doesn't change much. After adamantly refusing the prospect of needing help, Maria eventually asks someone to help carry her lamp which gives me hope for her. However, throughout the entire film, she's constantly upset, which makes me believe this visual impairment of hers is something new or more recent. She's grieving what she lost - a world of color - at the beginning of the film and again at the end of the film. In the middle, she admits she needs a little help and she realizes it's okay to need and ask for help. That gives me hope that she'll one day come to see the beauty of her world - even without its colors. Carlos Puig Mundó, the director and writer, deserves a huge shoutout. He, like Maria, has a visual disability and therefore, like Maria, has had to learn how to survive in a world not made for people with such impairments. I think his story is really impressive and that there's a certain beauty to the fact that he's bringing to life the stories that occur to him. I like the scene at the end of the film where we can see what Maria sees this entire time. There's a vibrant world - full of color and then something shifts and we see it only in various shades of gray. It made me sad to look at. Color makes things interesting. Gray is boring. And it's also very hard to see anything specific when everything's gray. I felt horrible for Maria. Until that scene I didn't really understand what her disability was or why she needed a lamp.
The film's message is that it's okay to ask for help.The message is kind of lost when, immediately after that, the bullies bully her again. The second message of the film is to shine a light on people with disabilities, like Maria with her visual impairment. Be aware that it contains profanity, shows kids doing risky things that kids might imitate, and contains bullying.
I give One More Day 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. This film would appeal particularly to those with visual impairment issues or other disabilities or have someone in their inner circle of friends and family with those issues.
By Alma K., KIDS FIRST!
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