Driven by a compelling narrative, Jonny Durgan’s G.S.W. slowly tightens its grip on the viewer, refusing to let go until the final moments. Built around a single emergency, the film examines moral fracture and the collision of professional duty with personal fear.

The film follows Beth (Genevieve O’Reilly: Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, Ahsoka, and most recently, Andor), a paramedic responding to what initially appears to be a routine but severe call: a man suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She and her colleague Jo (Kya Brame: Grantchester, Malpractice and The Long Shadow) work with the composure of people who have seen too much to panic easily. But calm proves fragile. Over the radio, dispatcher Sue (Gemma Whelan: Game of Thrones and Killing Eve) relays breaking news of a school shooting nearby. The details are sketchy, the shooter unidentified – until they’re not. The description begins to match the man bleeding out on their stretcher. Worse still, the school in question is the one Beth’s son attends.

From that moment, G.S.W. becomes more unsettling than a procedural drama. Durgan, through his work, is interested in what happens internally when a line you thought was solid suddenly dissolves. Beth’s dilemma is not shown in black-and-white colours. The film sits in the painful in-between, where each second drags on, and every choice comes with a cost.

By shifting the aspect ratio and camera movement, Durgan draws a clear line between the outside world and the suffocating interior of the ambulance. Wide, steady shots track the vehicle through the city, but once inside, the frame tightens, and the camera becomes handheld, closing in on the characters. This visual contrast places the viewer directly in the confined space with them, emphasising the sense of claustrophobia.

Genevieve O’Reilly delivers a superb performance that carries the film throughout. Known to many for stellar performances elsewhere, here she internalises almost everything, with her face becoming a battleground. Kya Brame complements this beautifully, playing Jo as composed and alert, her reactions subtly changing as the implications sink in. With the camera staying close and the pacing precise, G.S.W. proves to be a well-directed short. There’s no indulgence here as Durgan allows the horror of the situation to develop on its own, trusting the audience to sit with discomfort.

Everything about this film is impressive; G.S.W. leaves you sitting in silence when it ends, replaying its choices and wondering what you would have done in Beth’s place. Few short films create that kind of aftershock, fewer still with such confidence.

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Written by Maggie Gogler

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