Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. Huzzah!

Everything felt so entirely different back when I was a kid. I often think the innocence lost of the kids that came after is a result of apathy from those who somehow prioritize anything over their kids, while also trying to act like they don’t. Case in point, our complete and abject inability to do a damn thing regarding school shootings. I never had an active shooter drill in my day. i simply just saw Columbine happen, and remembered the shock that something like that could happen. then it happened again, and again. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children under the age of 18. We have gotten so many mass shootings, people have actually been unlucky enough to have been in more than one. We have fully normalized terror, and created an industry around it.

In that monsoon of tragedy, Steve Hartman found himself tasked by CBS News to find the silver lining. Kids are dead, but… at least someone showed courage that day? After years of doing this, and interviewing families, victims, and feeling helpless with no end in sight, he began a project that documented the bedrooms left behind by the children killed in school shootings. The parents often leave things untouched, as if one day the nightmare might end, and their kid will want to return to everything as it was. For this documentary short Netflix is certainly submitting for Oscar consideration, he visits four families, and he and his photographer notice everything from SpongeBob to a still open toothpaste.

Netflix has put this front and center before, notably in the animated short If Anything Happens I Love You, which won the Animated Short prize a few years back. I’ve seen a few of the other shorts vying for spots, and while there are some compelling stories, this is the one that continuously needs platformed, as we are unwilling and unable to change. instead of compromising on gun control, we would rather our kindergartners learn early on that a stranger can barge in during nap time and open fire. If they don’t have a strategy at the age of five, in a place that used to be safe and sacred, then no gold star for the day.

hartman’s sobering look at tragedy many would rather ignore is a necessary reminder of our continued failures for the next generations. Unfortunately, for Hartman, he is far more likely to make a follow up to this with more empty rooms before anyone moves a finger to stop the madness.

Fresh: Final Grade: 9.5/10