Let Liv

Giving up alcohol when one is addicted is never about a single decision. It requires an ongoing effort while will affect numerous aspects of future life. It also – though this is less often talked about – affects how one processes one’s past life. An unexpected encounter at an AA meeting forces Liv (Olivia Levine) to take on past and future together at a very vulnerable time.

Liv is hesitant to go to the meeting at all. She’s aware of the faith-based framework of Alcoholics Anonymous and its history of being less than inclusive, so it takes some time for her partner Marty (Rosaline Elbay) to persuade her that things have changed and she will be welcome there as a queer woman. Realising that the two of them are not the only ones there gives her confidence a big boost. She does recognise that her drinking is out of control, and she’s ready to take that step towards getting help, but when he estranged mother arrives at the meeting, it’s all too much, and she has to run.

Generational alcoholism is a common problem – around half of all alcoholics have at least one alcoholic relative, and research suggests this is due to genetic factors more than social ones. As trauma and addiction are often entangled, however, it results in some very complex situations. Parents are always expected to put their children first, but that’s something an addict can’t do. Liv feels betrayed by her mother for numerous reasons. Trying to understand her experience is hard when she feels that those betrayals contributed to her becoming an alcoholic herself. It’s harder still because acknowledging the reasons for them requires acknowledging that she too has become somebody capable of behaving in that way.

The painful conversation in which the two confront these issues outside the meeting feels rushed and insufficient, too full of the sort of concessions frequently made by repentant addicts just before they go off and do it all again. As such, it’s difficult for it to carry much weight, and the ending feels rather twee. That said, the performances are good and the script is written with an acute awareness of the complex emotions at play, including the spikiness of a central character who is just beginning to feel the real pain of being away from the bottle for longer than she’s used to. Liv and her mother are at different stages in battling their addiction and that’s a tangible thing in the way they are realised, as important in what it has to say as anything delivered directly by the dialogue.

Despite its structural clumsiness, this short film, which screened as part of Tribeca 2023, has a good deal to recommend it and is a great showcase for its stars.