A Story About Choice, Fear, and Unspoken Loyalties

Read Time:5 Minute, 48 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Rosalie
–

Genre: Drama, Thriller
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 20m
Director(s): Erin McGuff-Pennington
Writer(s): Erin McGuff-Pennington
Cast: Rebecca Quinn Robertson, Adriana Spencer, Aubrey Lake, Julian Giat
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Queens World Film Festival, follow @ruffledowlproductions on Instagram, and sign up for their mailing list on www.RuffledOwlProductions.com

RAVING REVIEW: There’s a certain kind of short film that doesn’t aim to shock through twists or visuals, but through honesty. ROSALIE is one of those stories. It presents a situation that could play out behind any closed door in America, and it carries the weight of something deeply human: a woman who’s overwhelmed, stretched to the extremes, and fighting the internal storm of an unplanned pregnancy she doesn’t want. At the same time, her closest friend carries her own heartache — an infertility struggle that shapes every reaction she has to Rosalie’s decision. With only twenty minutes to work with, the film doesn’t waste time circling its themes. Instead, it moves with precision, grounded in realistic dialogue, and the painful contradictions that arise when two people love each other but want entirely different outcomes.

The film's strength lies in how Erin McGuff-Pennington frames this conflict. ROSALIE isn’t built around political messaging or moralizing. It’s built around circumstances that real women face every day — exhaustion, resentment, financial instability, complicated friendships, and the emotional math of parenting multiple children while confronting an unexpected pregnancy. The film doesn’t simplify these moments; it lets them weigh heavily on the screen. Rosalie isn’t portrayed as careless or impulsive. She’s simply tired. Deeply tired. The kind of tired that reshapes a person’s judgment and narrows their options. Each choice she makes is the product of cumulative stress rather than any single event.

That human approach is what gives the film its tension. This isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense; the tension grows from the clash of intentions. Rosalie’s determination to end her pregnancy is met with her best friend’s equally fierce commitment to stopping her. Both motivations are understandable and raw. Adriana Spencer brings an acuity to the role of a woman whose desire for a child has become almost territorial. Her performance holds a mix of hurt, longing, and misplaced conviction that makes her character believable without turning her into a villain. The film treats her with nuance, allowing the audience to feel sympathy even as her actions cross lines.

Rebecca Quinn Robertson gives Rosalie a hardened quiet that reveals more than any outburst would. You can see the fatigue in the way she weighs each word, in the moments she retreats emotionally while still present. Short films often struggle to capture conflict quickly, but Robertson manages it with subtle, grounded choices. Her character doesn’t need dramatic monologues to communicate how overwhelmed she is; the exhaustion is right there in her stillness.

There’s also an authenticity to the family. The presence of children is never exploited for cheap sympathy. Their routines, interruptions, and small moments of need act as reminders of how relentless motherhood can be, especially when the world outside your home offers little support or understanding. Those everyday details matter because they reinforce how little room Rosalie has left for herself. Her home isn’t a place of rest; it’s a place of constant responsibility.

At twenty minutes, ROSALIE keeps the pressure under control and refuses to drift into melodrama. There’s no filler. Every exchange pushes the situation further, and every decision deepens the divide between the two women. The film ends in a place that doesn’t offer “closure,” which feels appropriate. These are not problems that tie themselves up in twenty minutes, and McGuff-Pennington wisely avoids forcing resolution where there shouldn’t be any. The ending doesn’t feel abrupt so much as honest — life rarely gives people satisfying conclusions in moments like this.

One of the film’s strongest qualities is how it presents a conflict without designating a hero or a villain. Both women believe they’re acting out of love, and both are right in their own ways. That’s the uncomfortable truth the film sits with. The story never shames Rosalie for her choice, nor does it trivialize her friend’s longing for motherhood. Instead, it allows both perspectives to coexist, crashing into each other with force. This attention to intent shows a level of respect for the subject matter that’s often missing from stories involving reproductive choices.

It’s a film driven by performance, intention, and a very real understanding of how quickly life can push people past their breaking points. This is a story about choice, but more importantly, it’s about the collision of two women’s pain — one drowning beneath the weight of motherhood, the other aching for it. That contrast is what makes the film stick with you after it ends.

ROSALIE fits into the type of grounded, socially relevant short that festival audiences connect with because it captures a problem without preaching a solution. It allows its characters to be complicated, flawed, and human. The film is strong, touching, and well-acted, with a clear voice and an important emotional core, even if there are moments where a bit more depth or buildup could enrich the story. What matters most is that ROSALIE understands its characters and refuses to treat their conflict as a spectacle. It respects the seriousness of their situation while never losing sight of the personal struggle at its heart.

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[photo courtesy of RUFFLED OWL PRODUCTIONS]

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