Synopsis

In the vulnerable period when teenagers break away from home and friendship becomes their main support, Sam loses his best friend Fin. Not knowing how to deal with this in an environment where life goes on as usual for the rest of the world, he flees to the place where he feels most connected to his best friend. At their familiar hangout at the lake in the woods, Sam seeks to confront his loss.

Directors statement

In the late summer of 2021 we met on a film production. Both deeply lost in grief, shortly after both losing our dearest childhood friends. After discovering this similar experience, a deeper connection was inevitable. In a parallel grieving process, we not only connected with each other, but also found ourselves and our lost loved ones again. This resulted in writing a shared ode to our dear friends, in the form of a short film.

The film shows one day in Sam's grieving process after he lost his best friend Fin. In a small and intimate way, we see how Sam has a hard time with how the rest of the world continues and wishes to put the world on pause or go back in time. We therefore chose the arena of a 'memorial place': where time plays no role. The place where Sam and Fin spent most of their friendship together - the place where Sam can still see his best friend “standing there, as if it was yesterday”.

We chose to tell the story from a teenage perspective because friends are the most important and influential at this point in life. In these crucial friendships - where it seems like they are the only ones who truly understand us - we experience joy, sadness, love, despair, freedom and uncertainty. We experience all our first times together, through the security that our close friendship provides.

With creating the film ‘Fin’ we would like to take a moment to reflect on our friendships, memories but also grief. By making time and space for these complex and vulnerable feelings, we also open up for the love they gave us. Continuing to cherish what was, will make this friendship never ending.

Lieke's dream

When Puck passed away my whole body filled with pain and sorrow. Every cell of my body yearned to be able to give her a good hug again. After about two months, she appeared in a dream.

She took me with her and together we relived all kinds of memories that still are symbolic of our friendship. We got a chance to talk and express everything that I regretted so much that I had not done it sooner. Every detail felt so incredibly real. Puck was really with me. At the end of the dream, we gave each other an incredibly long big hug.

When I woke up it felt like I had really seen Puck. I talked to her, laughed with her, cried with her and hugged her. It brought me peace and a kind of closure, the urge I had to hug her suddenly seemed satiated. The mourning was, at least for a few weeks, slightly eased.