Despite my anticipation for this film due to its humble and knowledgeable writer/director Alex Withrow, I had no idea what this film was about or even what it looked like.

Having mentioned the attributes of the filmmaker, it'd be more than wrong of me to not be honest in this review. Some may think I'd be kind considering I've made contact with him and he very well may see this review, but that's not how the way this goes, from one filmmaker to another and for someone who has poured his heart and soul into this one film deserves my honest opinion.

In saying that I wasn't sure what to expect, I fucking loved this film. Why? Firstly, it proves that digital filmmaking doesn't have to look and feel amateurish, yet with some sensible, mature and restrained direction, it can really work wonders.

It's not without its faults, but there mostly personal qualms, the ending didn't strike the cord I was hoping for even though it was satisfying, the scenes which reveals the male lead towards the very end didn't feel as strong as all the other scenes that had accompanied it, but in saying that it didn't once deceive or abandon the story it was telling, so the scene still worked regardless.

But above all, the greatest strength of Earrings which very few feature length films of recent memory have yet to learn from, is the use of silence. No overbearing score throughout to spoonfeed emotion to the audience, but merely the character herself who says everything without a single word spoken. Modern filmmakers could learn a thing or two from this.

From the inclusion of a female lead (a rarity these days) who embodies subtlety and quiet destruction to scenes of beautiful sadness, Earrings is the mark of a filmmaker who understands emotion and subtlety while all in all never for a second neglecting his audience.