Web Video / Aaron

Pictured - not actually Aaron.

Adam: Why'd you leave? Why here? You picked somewhere really far away.
Chris: I don't know. Had to get away I guess. Just get out. Probably seems really stupid now...

Aaron is a 2017 Irish short film concerning a troubled relationship between two brothers.

Adam Chester (Thomas Fitzgerald) is introduced on the phone with his girlfriend Arianna, having just flown into England from Ireland. He's here to see his half-brother Chris Barry (Bobby Calloway). Things appear to be very tense and distant between the brothers - which is odd because a picture on Adam's phone from a few years back shows them looking very close. After a few moments of awkward small talk, Adam goes out to walk around the area.

Chris receives a distressed phonecall from their mother while Adam is out - and discovers that Adam actually left without telling them. This proves to be something of a last straw for Chris, who reads Adam the riot act as soon as he returns. But the reasons Adam came to visit are less black and white than they appear.

More production details can be read here.

The film was released here on March 1st 2018.

Tropes:

• Artistic Licence – Geography: Irish number plates are visible on the cars in the background during the final scene.
• The Atoner: Both the brothers in different ways:
  • Adam has been a frequent screw-up for years, and it's implied he drove his parents mad (and Chris by extension) with all his antics. He's now trying to put his life back together.
  • Chris was close with his brother but ended up leaving for college in England, and essentially neglecting their friendship. After realising what his brother was going through, he's now trying to make amends.
• Beard of Sorrow: The picture of Adam from back when he and Chris lived together shows him clean-shaven. Now he's got a beard.
• Big Brother Bully: Chris's bully side does come out and he lays into Adam for all he's done in the past.
• Big Brother Instinct: Chris's comes out when he sees Adam passing out drunk outside his house.
• Big Little Brother: Adam is the younger brother, but is notably taller than Chris.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Parents who tried to conceal a pregnancy from their eldest son, even after a miscarriage. And Adam's history of reckless behaviour kind of qualifies too.
• Bittersweet Ending: Despite Chris discovering his family's unpleasant secret, he and Adam seem to be working to rebuild their relationship by the end.
• Complexity Addiction: Adam travels all the way to England, sneaking behind his parents' back, just to give Chris the news.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Deconstructed. Arianna's miscarriage was anything but convenient, and Adam is still troubled by the loss of his baby two years later.
• Cool Uncle: Discussed briefly. Adam in his monologue to Aaron warns that Chris would not have been this.
• Dead Person Conversation: Adam speaks to his son at the end.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Adam goes out drinking after his argument with Chris, and doesn't reappear until much later.
• Dumbass Teenage Son: Adam appears to have been this, but the reality isn't so straightforward.
• Elephant in the Room: At first it's clear that something happened between Adam and Chris years ago, but they make awkward small talk and dance around the issue at first.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Adam is the Foolish, Chris is the Responsible.
• The Ghost:
  • Arianna is only seen in photographs and when Adam speaks to her on the phone at the beginning, yet is a big part of the plot.
  • The boys' mother phones Chris and is not heard, but also affected the plot in a big way.
  • Chris has housemates who are away at a festival for the weekend, leaving the two brothers alone in the house.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Well abortion is illegal in Ireland - so Arianna was going to carry her baby to term.
• Heel–Face Turn: Chris when he sees Adam at his lowest.
• Hilarious Outtakes: As seen here.
• Manly Tears: Chris's eyes are seen getting watery when Adam tells him the truth.
• Maybe Ever After: Non-romantic example. The film's ending leaves it open whether or not the brothers will rebuild their friendship.
• Meaningful Name: The brothers' names are Chris and Aaron, as a reference to Cain and Abel. Also to Adam and Cal.
• My Beloved Smother: Mrs Chester forced Adam to keep his girlfriend's pregnancy a secret - even from his brother - to the degree that Adam had to flee the country to tell Chris.
• "Reason You Suck" Speech: Chris to Adam.
  "I remembered all the times you stumbled home at 5 am, all the times we had to go out in the middle of the night and rescue you from the middle of nowhere. And that’s not to mention the amount of shit you pulled that we never found out about. So in the end, all I could say was - why do I ask 'why’?"
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Adam is the red, Chris is the blue. They're both colour-coded in the respective shades too.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Implied that this is how Chris's departure went.
• Shirtless Scene: Chris is shirtless when Adam arrives back later.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Secondary Character Title for a deceased baby is one to Junebug.
  • The brothers being named with an A & C naming convention, and one of them being Troubled, but Cute is to East of Eden.
  • Adam delivering a monologue to a dead person is one to Sunshine Cleaning.
  • The tag line "his past is not today" references the song from the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls franchise.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: After reconciling, both Adam and Chris are now wearing matching clothes.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: Inverted where the successful sibling Chris seems to resent the problem sibling Adam for all the attention he got - that all stemmed from his problems.
• Teen Pregnancy: Adam is twenty, and the pregnancy is said to have happened "two years ago", putting him at either seventeen or eighteen.
• Theme Naming: Most characters have names that begin with A - Adam, Arianna, Aaron. Chris - who is at odds with Adam - is the Odd Name Out.
• Title Drop: Aaron is the name that Adam was going to give his son.
• Tranquil Fury: When Adam says "you don't know shit", he doesn't raise his voice too high. But it's clear that he's furious.
• The Un-Favourite: Hinted with regards to Chris. He alludes to Adam's problems taking centre stage when they were younger, and that their mother only phones to complain about Adam.
• Un-person: Adam's parents have been trying to do this to Aaron, pretending the pregnancy never happened.
• Vocal Evolution: Chris's voice has changed to sound more English. Not knowing his brother's accent has changed is a hint that Adam hasn't been keeping much contact with Chris.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Adam very violently pukes on Chris's front porch - and the camera catches it all.
• We Used to Be Friends: Chris and Adam drifted apart after Chris moved away.
• "What Now?" Ending: The film ends with Adam and Chris walking off, unsure of what to do next.

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