The Long Goodbye is a 2020 short film (12 minutes) directed by Aneil Karia, co-written by Karia and Riz Ahmed.
Riz (Riz Ahmed) is spending a typical day at home with his family. He's goofing around with a boy (son or nephew?) in the living room, while Riz's brother talks to a girl he likes and Riz's sister is having a party with her friends in her room. His father is irritated by Riz blocking his view of the TV, but Riz answers that "it's 24-hour news, nothing ever changes."
Only that's not true. The TV news report that Riz's father wanted to watch shows some sort of far-right, white nationalist protest march. Within a couple of minutes, the white nationalists are in Riz's neighborhood. And they have guns.
This film is thematically connected to The Long Goodbye, Riz Ahmed's Concept Album. It does not have any connection to either Raymond Chandler novel The Long Goodbye or that book's film adaptation.
Tropes:
- Apathetic Citizens: The white people in the neighborhood simply watch from behind their windows as Riz's family is massacred. Riz's brother spots some white people watching and screams "Fucking help us!"
- Author Filibuster: The end has Riz coming out of character and addressing the camera directly, talking and then rapping about how imperialism brought Pakistanis to England and how Pakistanis and Indians helped build Britain."You only built a piece of this place, bruv, the rest was us!"
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The film ends with Riz coming out of character and giving a speech directly to the camera.
- Brits Love Tea: In his out-of-character speech at the end, Riz notes that while the British love their tea, tea actually comes from India.
- Character Filibuster: Riz gives an out-of-character speech at the end about how Pakistanis were brought to Britain by imperialism.
- Dystopia: The film is revealed to take place in some sort of fascist Britain where white nationalist militia roam around murdering Pakistanis in the streets, while the police look on.
- Extremely Short Timespan: It might actually be Real Time, but some of the cuts between Riz in the living room and his sister with her friends in the bedroom suggest brief time skips. Either way, the film depicts a very short interval in one terrifying afternoon.
- In the Back: A handcuffed Riz sees his son/nephew being manhandled by a fascist. Riz runs off to help, only to be shot in the back by another militiaman.
- Jitter Cam: Used heavily in the latter portion of the film when the white nationalists are raiding the neighborhood and Riz's family is trying to run away.
- Mood Whiplash: A cozy little domestic drama showing an afternoon in the live of a British-Pakistani family, which turns terrifying on a dime when gun-toting militiamen show up in Riz's neighborhood.
- Multigenerational Household: At least three generations, with Riz's parents, Riz and his siblings, and a boy who appears to be Riz's son.
- The Reveal: At first it appears to be a modern British setting. The setting is revealed to actually be some kind of alternate history where violent far-right white nationalists are coming through neighborhoods, finding people of Pakistani ancestry, and executing them in the streets.
- Significant Background Event: The white supremacist march can be seen on the TV well before it actually gets to Riz's neighborhood.
- Silent Credits: The brief end credits are presented silently, which fits with the grim conclusion.
- Tempting Fate: Riz dismisses his father's desire to watch the news, saying "It's 24-hour news, nothing ever changes!" Moments later a fascist death squad is in their neighborhood.
