Since It’s Me, Matthew! is psychological drama based on a true story. This week I asked Scott Liff, who is a licensed psychotherapist to share his professional and personal opinion on the film from a Psychotherapists point of view. Also, we just got accepted into the Third Annual Think Short Film Festival; stay posted for more details to follow on our screenings page. Here’s what Scott had to say!

Below The Surface

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the private screening of It’s Me, Matthew! I was extremely excited, intrigued, and curious after having been informed that it was somewhat based on a true story.

After watching the film, based on the fact that I am a psychotherapist and the film deals deeply with strong human relational themes. The themes that resonated most powerfully for me were related to the deep feelings of loss, rejection, sadness, and anger that torment the main character, Matthew. As a psychotherapist, it is those types of aforementioned feelings that we encounter on a daily basis in our clients. As Matthew is struggling through these feelings and issues, the film so clearly illuminates the repetition that can occur throughout our lives when we are unable to resolve traumas from our past.

The writing so clearly captures the pain that I often see in my clients when they are re-living past unresolved traumas and issues. There is no way to downplay the intense power of this film. As a psychotherapist I believe the film really nails down the point related to how traumas impact our lives and create imprints on our souls. After the film ended I was left with a mix of emotions that I imagined may have given me just a small taste of what it must have been like to be in the shoes of the author going through such terrible pain. Working with clients, I often witness how scary it can be for them to develop enough trust to reveal their true selves as well as the pain they have been through. I definitely felt as if the film gave a window into the soul of one person’s intense grief, but also a little shout out to all people who have experienced intense adversity or trauma in their lives. Each of us can learn something from this short film.