A smoke-and-mirrors story of grief and deception, Total Loss portrays a meeting between a bereaved couple and a mystic of dubious authenticity.

A word on the mystic: Lucy Sheen is a particular delight in an outstanding cast. She is at once dubious and authentic, a tightrope walker along willing suspension of disbelief. Acting for two, she guides the story beautifully, as spellbinding as her character’s curtains, her ritual, her bizarre jewellery (costume designer Mekel Lukka Bailey has done a fabulous job) and her magnetism is enhanced by close, intimate shots that pull the viewer into an almost conspiratorial role.

The film’s stylistic gorgeousness almost hinders the main theme: can a frank discussion of grief take place amidst a plot that depends on deception? In some ways, the commitment to aesthetic gorgeousness hinders the emotional pull up until the climax. Once this curtain is torn down, the climax depends primarily on quiet, sometimes indiscernible dialogue that seems a little too neat to reflect the chaos of the couple’s grief. After all, their child is still lost and neither parent is over that, to the extent that you ever get over that sort of trauma.

Fortunately, Ivanno Jeremiah and Hannah Arterton’s performances ensure that the latent emotions of the scene are still palpable. Stellar acting ensures that the last few minutes of the film to remain satisfying. While the final scene ties up a little too neatly, the tone is one of bittersweet relief which offers a sense of recovery, if not necessarily closure.

If you are interested in watching Total Loss, you can find it here: https://vimeo.com/165171592