“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Yes, we couldn’t agree more with the American actress Mae West. We try to live our only life to the fullest by enjoying every day and making memories. But what do you have if even those memories aren’t everlasting? Would you like to turn back time to relive those moments if possible? That’s exactly the question Mac is asking himself in “Here & Beyond” from director Colin West (“Pink Plastic Flamingos”, “Then The Rain Came”). With his sixth short film, West tells the emotional journey of a man trying to hold onto his last memories.

Dementia. That’s the devastating news the former science TV show host Mac (Greg Lucey) awaits when he visits his doctor. It’s still in its early stage but it might not take long before things start to deteriorate. To avoid confusion when the disease sets in, Mac has to throw away all the items that remind him of his dead wife. While going through her stuff, memories of their time together linger in his mind. The beautiful Christmas period, their fascination for science and her magnificent time machine. Seeing the time machine and thinking about how much time he might have left on earth, Mac sees this old and dusty time machine as his solution. With his outcast teenage neighbor Tess (Laurel Porter), he tries to fix it. Will he be able to travel back in time to be with the love of his life again or will all the memories be lost?

“Here & Beyond” starts as a playful, amusing and educational science program but soon it becomes the emotional and human story about a man whose time is running out but whose love for his wife is stronger than his illness. The film never becomes the sad, melancholy and somber and despite the dementia, the film has the positive, hopeful and funny vibe and focusses on elements such as emotions, devotion, and science.

In a film like this, in which you can find storytelling in its purest form, human emotions and facial expressions are key. With more than sixty credits (most of which short films) behind his name, Greg Lucey (“Sleepwalk”, “Celluloid Dreams”) is the perfect leading man in this film. You can read the pain, the grief but also hope and love just by looking at him. If you put another great co-star in front of him in the form of newcomer Laurel Porter (“As High as the Sky”, “The Yearbook”), you know that their on-screen friendship will be strong.

Earlier this week we announced that “Here & Beyond” will be screened at Cinequest Film Festival in California and at the Miami Science Fiction Film Festival this month and surely the festival-run of this touching film won’t be over soon. Even if you don’t have a particular interest in science, you’ll adore this film. Not only because of the wonderful relationship between Mac and Tess but also because of the emotional acting performances and the human topics such as Dementia.

Liselotte Vanophem, Film and Celebrity Reporter – Just Celebrity Magazine

Here & Beyond – Trailer from Colin West on Vimeo.