A young woman tries to overcome her OCD by doing weird therapy exercises.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT is used with permission from Melissa Kong. Learn more at / dontworryaboutitshort .
Hannah is in intensive therapy for debilitating contamination obsessive-compulsive disorder, which has affected her life and relationships, especially after the recent death of her father. Her therapist gives her a series of exercises as part of her treatment. As Hannah works her way through these, she becomes part of the clinic's community, even helping others with their exercises.
When her latest exercise involves eating a cookie left on a toilet seat, it's a step too far for Hannah. But to move forward in the treatment and confront her OCD, Hannah must complete it -- as well as deal with the grief and guilt she feels over her father's death.
Directed and written by Melissa Kong, this dramedy short is a finely tuned balancing act of tone, blending sincerity, humor and somber reflection as it traces the efforts of Hannah to get through her treatment for a misunderstood condition. OCD is often portrayed as a collection of tics or behaviors that look odd on the surface, but the short delves into the complexity of it with a disarming blend of comedy and heart.
Excellently written with a restrained, straightforward visual approach that puts the focus on performances and dialogue, the storytelling finds bleakly comic moments in the absurdity of some of the therapy exercises portrayed in the storytelling, both for Hannah and the other patients at the treatment center. By taking the time to construct the wider community of the clinic, we see the different ways that OCD can express itself, from intrusive and persistent thoughts about sex to Hannah's manifestation, which is an aversion to touching people and objects that could "contaminate" her with germs.
There's a lightness in the first half of the film as it establishes character and milieu, and in a less sensitive, empathetic film, it would be all too easy to keep portraying the clinic and its patients as overly quirky. But as Hannah's story deepens, we understand the very serious costs that having OCD can have on life and relationships. For Hannah, it curtailed a key moment between her and her father before his passing. Actor Hanah Chang is dry, droll and witty as Hannah as she navigates the series of seemingly silly therapy exercises, but when she confronts her regrets about her father's death, she is deeply moving, and the depth of her performance helps the film to achieve considerable empathy and resonance.
Based on the director's personal experiences, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT has authenticity and authority in its accurate portrayal of OCD. But it's also a powerful portrait of grief and fear, and how they can hold us back in life if we don't examine them. Hannah learns that she must face her pain and suffering over the events in her life, which helps her confront how insidiously OCD has intruded upon her autonomy and her relationships. That insight gives her the power to face her fear and move beyond it -- even if it's in the shape of a cookie in a place where no one should be eating.