George is happily making a meal, getting ready for his girlfriend Sara to come over. But when Sara arrives, she has some startling news: she's unexpectedly pregnant. George is thrilled, and he immediately wants to keep the baby and start a family with Sara. But Sara is torn -- she has a promising career as a dancer, as well as other hopes and dreams. George tries to convince Sara to keep the baby, sharing his vision of a loving family, but the discussion unearths some darker truths about the relationship -- and George himself. Directed and written by Walid Said, this powerful short drama uses a potentially life-changing moment between two people in a relationship as its jumping-off point. An unplanned pregnancy is an often stressful situation between a couple, one that could yoke them together for life. It forces George and Sara to look at their future together, but in this case, that examination brings up uncomfortable truths and realizations about how George's past trauma informs his present behavior and decisions. With such an intimate subject and moment as its center, the visual approach also creates a closeness between the viewer and the action can oscillate between cozy and claustrophobic, depending on the emotional intensity of the narrative beat. We see the couple at their closest and most loving, with comfort and affection, especially from George, who adores Sara with a touching, eager-to-please quality.
But we also see them at a tense and heightened moment, like when Sara reveals her unexpected news. The emotional range -- rendered in emotionally perceptive writing and dynamic performances by actors Daniel Davids and Nia Deacon -- gives us a sense of why George and Sara are together and how they work as a couple. This set of differences and affinities become even more pronounced as their conflict amplifies with their different reactions to the pregnancy. Sara is scared and ambivalent about becoming a mother so young and so early in her career, but George is over the moon. Having a family is always something he has dreamed about, and he wants nothing more than to start a family with the woman he loves. But as they hash out their differences in a volatile, highly emotional discussion, the true subject matter of "Can't Let You Go" comes to the fore. The ending section of the film is a shocking series of revelations, which point to a deeper truth about George and his past. It also reveals the disturbing ways that his past trauma feeds into his current behavior, horrifying Sara and causing her to recast her relationship in a new light. It's an explosive conclusion to the film, one that ends the film uneasily, unsettling us with an intimate look at how toxic and abusive patterns in some relationships happen -- and how control and manipulation disguise themselves as love.
