‘Beyond Foster’ Short Film Review: Learning How to Forgive & Move Forward

A short story about overcoming identity crisis, coming of age issues, and approaching young adulthood.

Michael Reynoso

Published in

Writer’s Harmony

4 min readApr 30, 2020

Greetings, readers, its Michael Reynoso here.

Welcome to “Writer’s Harmony!”

Today, I will be doing a film review about the short film “Beyond Foster”. After watching this short film, I immediately take a step back and is completely blown away. In each segment, the film gives a lot of meaning and insight into the early struggles of my mother, Crystal Melville’s life as a foster child.

Short Film Overview

In this short film, it begins with Crystal Melville explaining how she originates from a lineage of warriors, a Matri Clan tribe from Ghana, West Africa, the Akan people. She also adds that as a young girl, she feels helpless with no parents in the home. With no parent to claim her, she enters the foster care system and is given to a sweet old lady named Irene Francis, who becomes her beloved mother.

As Crystal grows old enough to understand the loss of her parents, she feels both sad and mad. At the beginning of every school year, she observes the other children with their parents, while she has no parents to call her own.

One wonders, is this the every day life as a foster child?

Looking back at her childhood years, Crystal has to go through various emotions that makes her to question her place in life. What makes her uncertain and insecure is the fight against her past, while fearing the future at the same time. Crystal acknowledges that it is her faith in God, which keeps her from being that same helpless little girl.

One day, Crystal realizes that “life is really what you make it”. In spite of her shortcomings, she knows deep within, God was with her. Thus, Crystal decides that she will be a “change maker” and create a new life. By bringing forth change in the world, she achieves the goal of being champion for the voiceless.

The greatest change Crystal realizes is the change within herself.

The highlight of the short film, is when Crystal talks to her 8 year-old self. Listening to her re-assure her 8 year-old self is impactful. This segment hopefully gives the listener a new perspective about their own 8 year-old self.

Crystal urges listeners to understand and appreciate the lessons life has to offer, no matter how difficult the situation.

Takeaways

What I got from this short film is that it is normal to go through the emotions of loss, pain, and anguish. It’s inevitable to feel uncertainty, anxiety, and pain as you overcome obstacles that you are not prepare to handle in the given moment.

You will learn lessons.

You won’t be exempt from any disappointment that you experience in your life. Unfortunately, you will experience heartbreaks and devastating losses from loved ones who become an intricate part of your growth.

Above all else, don’t trust anyone. Trust God.

Not everyone should be allowed in your inner circle. Always use discretion so you can know who to express your heart with, someone you can tell your deep darkest secrets. Show kindness towards people. Quickly forgive before anger and resentment builds up when you are in communication with someone you know or don’t know.

Lastly, don’t be in a rush to grow up.

Try to enjoy every minute as you develop and grow. Don’t let the stress of life overcome you at such a young age to where you feel you have to prove yourself. You may feel that your life is not enough and there is no purpose for you in this world.

You may feel that your voice is not heard and there are not enough opportunities. We are living in different times now, and people are eager to take away the goodness that God has given you. Beware!

As her firstborn son, I am very proud of the woman my mother became and how she was able to overcome her hurdles like a warrior. From a helpless little baby, to a Bishop who is a faithful servant of God.