It all starts with the buzzing of a fly. A woman with a cut on her lip stands crying while waiting in a hallway to see the body of her dead husband. The architecture surrounding her is uninviting. The coloring of the world is bleak, cold. The characters around her are careless and dismissive - a disinterested prosecutor who’s too preoccupied with his own phone calls, and a straight-faced doctor who clinically goes through the motions, step by step. What is the right thing to do in a world surrounded by impassion? What is fair? Is there really nothing one can do in a situation so hopeless? Or is that just an excuse to turn a blind eye? Like a persistent, buzzing fly, these questions prod and force us to jolt out of our comfortable seats while watching Chicken Broth Soup - directed and written by Deniz Büyükkırlı, who is known for her previous work on Pretty Little Liars (2015), Brave and Beautiful (2016), and Love Me As I Am (2013).

In her short film, Büyükkırlı does a phenomenal job of revealing the truth of what women go through every day at the mercy of the justice system. The crying woman from before is surrounded by men at every turn - men who do not consider her wants, her needs, and who only see her as another person to be “processed” through the system they have set up. It all feels largely impersonal and dehumanizing; the men offer her no comfort, no care, no compassion. She is whittled down into what they can make out of her - her words are taken from her, her voice is taken from her. Indeed, she is not even the main character of her own story. We are confronted by her through the lens of the previously mentioned doctor, who arrives late for their own meeting.

Watching this film made me question myself of what I would do if placed in this situation. I was angered and saddened by what I saw on the screen, yet I could not deny that I would not do the same if put in their position. You can’t help but understand what each character is going through, thanks to the immersive acting directed by Büyükkırlı. Even the tiniest glance or moment of hesitation reveals a lot about what’s going through everyone’s mind. It makes you realize that the system is not only dehumanizing for those under its scrutiny, but to those behind its operation as well. It strips away our humanity and assigns us based only on our functions. Noticeably, none of the characters in the film are mentioned by name - forcing us to only refer to them as “the doctor”, “the victim”, “the prosecutor”. Any one of us could be switched out and put in these characters’ place. It’s introspection at its finest.

The ending scene leaves us with a grim, reflective silence, which we are made to sit with as the camera slowly zooms out. There is no escaping it. There is no relief from the all-encompassing discomfort. There are no words, no music to help distract us from what we’ve seen. There is only what you have witnessed, and what you continue to witness.

This burdened silence is only interrupted by the return of the buzzing of a fly, as the end credits roll. Again, the questions return. What have we just seen? What have we been made an accomplice to? Is there any redemption for us, the viewer? Or are we simply left to sit in silence, and think about our own place in the system?

In short, Chicken Broth Soup is a great little, short story about guilt, punishment, and the cold, turning cogs of justice.  Chicken Broth Soup screens as part of Shorts Program #1 at the Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, January 24.  The film will be Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7 PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets are available for purchase here.

The 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 24-February 21, 2025. The Festival will be a hybrid one as it will be presented online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VoD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. Plus, acclaimed singer-songwriter Renee Maskin will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, February 21 at 7PM! The in-person screenings and the Renee Maskin concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. For more info go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2025.eventive.org/welcome