“[It is] an unfortunate story about a family that has gone through the worst times in life. [It is] a mystery novel about being stuck inbetween afterlife. [The main] character has unfinished business and is denied eternal peace. His soul is stuck in limbo where he tries to [reconnect] with his long lost family!”
Losing a child, a sibling or a loved one in general is a crushing experience. In “Between Worlds”, you play as a man who got stuck in limbo. It all starts with a white screen and one big question, spoken in by a little girl’s voice: “Dad, where do we go when we die?” Suddenly, the man is in a wonderful, mystical space, which is fraught with red flowers. You guide him to the gate leading to the other side, while he still doubts that any of this could be real. His thoughts change quickly, as he has to take a longer walk in the skies and again hears his daughter’s voice. Now she is talking about her mother: “You said she cried because Ophelia is so far away, but you said she was happy. You said we would visit her one day.” He looks down to the ground and to Earth, deciding that it is not his time just yet. That is where the story really begins.
After a cut, he is back in his home. His daughter named Mellie is talking again and chats about the past, how much she loved the fact that he and her mother bought this house, but she also asks some harmlessly seeming, but in reality heartbreaking questions. For example, why the guest room was always locked after Ophelia was gone – it turns out that her mother did not want Mellie to see her crying all the time.
The supernaturalism of “Between Worlds” might seem kind of cheesy, but what this jam submission does amazingly in my opinion is to show different coping mechanisms and the possible contrast between the grief of adults and children. The childlike innocence of asking questions about death and the afterlife gets portrayed by Mellie, while the father’s answers tells us a lot about the somewhat unhealthy, but also relatable behavior of the parents. They do their best to not show their sadness in front of their still living children and rather lock themselves away when they have to mourn. A bittersweet experience with an open ending so far is waiting for you. [PLAY]
