Short film review | Cry Like A Guy

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House Of The Dragon actor Kieran Bew encourages all of us, especially men, to cry more in an hilarious short film. Here’s our review of Cry Like A Guy.

There’s still shame attached to the idea of men crying. Women are allowed, even expected to cry, but it’s somehow embarrassing if a man does, as if it’s some kind of weakness. Naturally, a lot of filmmakers have painstakingly crafted emotional, heartwrenching narratives where men have been allowed to cry on the big screen, hopefully making it easier for the men who are watching to cry too. Who doesn’t love a good cry?

Director, editor and VFX artist Ant Rubinstein’s short film Cry Like A Guy takes a different approach to this. The film opens with our host (and House Of The Dragon actor) Kieran Bew, admitting he’s a crier and he’s clearly proud of it, too (as he should be). The short then unfolds kind of like an HSBC advert, with Kieran walking from one set to another, telling us fascinating facts about crying and why it really shouldn’t be that big of a deal. We were literally born to cry!

Cry Like A Guy is a lot of fun and it feels refreshing. Its style might be hard to connect with and most of it works as a comedy, but there’s a lot of truth to what Bew says. Rather than trying to force us to cry, Rubinstein simply encourages us to and turns to facts rather than manipulation to convince us that it’s honestly okay to shed a tear or two. It’s healthy, really, if you think about it.

The ad-like structure of the film is a bold choice and it’s hard not to find it charming, but I can also see why some people might automatically switch off when Bew begins to recite all the reasons why guys should cry. It’s the same reason you immediately go on your phone when your nightly tradition of watching I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! is interrupted by the mandatory ad break. If you’re willing to give it a chance though, Cry Like A Guy is an endearing and comical look at our biology.

You can watch Cry Like A Guy below:

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