Sixteen minutes that linger for hours after the credits roll. ‘The Mourning Of’ is a short film that follows Maribel (Natalia Villegas) who has recently lost her mother. Rather than facing her grief, Maribel begins attending the funerals of strangers, a haunting ritual that reflects the complicated and often contradictory ways we mourn.

As always this is your warning that this review contains spoilers. I can’t talk about ‘The Mourning Of’ without discussing the raw, gut-punching moments that make it so devastating.

From the very first few minutes, the grief is present and it hits you with no warning. If anything, it dives straight in unapologetically and demands you sit and absorb not just the scenes but the emotions they stir up. While it’s brutal in many aspects of grief and mourning, it also makes you appreciate the people you still have around and makes you ache for anyone who has been through this.

‘The Mourning Of’ is a short that doesn’t need dialogue because the editing, the cinematography and the acting all make it feel real almost too real at times as if we are intruding on Maribel’s private mourning. Natalia Villegas’s acting is incredible she doesn’t say much but her eyes and her movements carry the weight of grief in a way that is almost unbearable to watch. The scene where she talks about her mother in the present tense while still wearing her mother’s earrings is simply devastating. It doesn’t feel like acting, it feels like reality.

At times the music felt a little too heavy for certain scenes but the combination with the flashbacks acts as a reminder that you’re merely watching this preventing you from becoming trapped in the emotional experience. The scene where Maribel is looking in the mirror putting on her mother’s earrings on and we hear the voiceover from the speakers about the pain of losing a parent feels like it voices everything Maribel wishes to say but can’t express. When she whispers ‘Aye Mami’ it’s a release that is so raw and intimate that you wish you could step out from the scene or break down with her.

The title ‘The Mourning Of’ is fitting. What exactly are we mourning? The person? The memories? The way we were before the grief? The short film doesn’t answer those questions because grief is not universal. It shows that everyone mourns differently at their own pace, time and in their own way. When Father Tomas (Julio Cesar Cedillo) went to Maribel to tell her to stop her ritual as it’s been five months since her mother passed felt like he had no right to say such a thing. But when he said ‘Grief is grey and it lingers. And you’ve got to learn how to live with it. You pick yourself up and you carry on’ it felt too honest and raw but had to be said for Maribel’s own good. In a few seconds, the film punches you straight to the heart as it honestly portrays that grief doesn’t pass, it lives with you.

‘The Mourning Of’ shows the power of storytelling without the need for lengthy dialogue and relies on the universal language of emotion. It’s raw, human and unforgettable. It challenges you to confront your own experiences with loss and encourages a deeper understanding of the complexities of mourning. As the credits roll you are left with a sense of empathy not just for Maribel but for anyone who has ever navigated the complex journey of grief.