Anyhing Helps Review: Simple Companionship Can Go a Long Way [SFF25]
Although it would be a far cry to call a short film like ‘Anyhing Helps’ a love story, the final scene of the film showcases an element that isn’t really addressed regarding the subject of homelessness, or even the brief interactions most people often have with homeless people, who they often feel more compelled to give money to as opposed to actually knowing the person behind the card board sign asking for help.
We’ve all been there to one extent or another, where we’ve either been stuck in traffic or arrived at an intersection at the final moments of a red light to find a homeless person holding up a sign summing up their short version of the bad life story that led them to a life of begging for money. The natural reaction people often have in response to this scene is either mass indifference, or some cynical justification labeling the homeless beggar as that of a drunk or a drug addict only in need of money so that they can score once more rather than actually helping themselves. When someone does give the homeless person either money or food, they are thanked and they end up leaving with a good feeling about themselves rather than a bigger picture understanding of what really transpired. The philosopher Slavov Zizek has critiqued this brand of charity, by arguing that these charitable acts often serve to maintain the very system that creates poverty, rather than addressing its root causes. He suggests that although these very gestures, while seemingly benevolent on the surface, still prevent a deeper political and structural reckoning by allowing people to feel they are helping without confronting the systemic failures of capitalism.
The aspect of communication and its importance are highlighted very well in the writing and acting of the film, after Olivia (Chloe Baker) has given up trying to satisfy the constant demands of the homeless vagrant she had repeatedly encountered and been charitable to. Whether it was her mistakingly giving him a chicken sandwich in staunch opposition to the surprise revelation of the veganism he is willing to violate for a cigarette, which he later states that he quit smoking, or even after receiving a pumpkin, the tone of the film, combined with its playfully tranquil music score carries a quirky but equally defeatist sense of absurdity for Olivia as her charitable acts prove fundamentally useless in satisfying the needs of the homeless man. It is only near the film’s conclusion where out of the kindness that was already in her heart (Why else would she help him out?) that she decides to provide the homeless man with a light for the pumpkin that eventually becomes a Jack o’lantern. However, the difference between this charitable act and the ones preceding it is in the calmer approach Olivia takes in sitting down with the homeless man, whom she knows next to nothing about—aside from him having a dark sense of humor— and having a moment of peace. That is what makes Anyhing Helps a unique commentary on the subject of a person’s relationship with the homeless and the charity most people often use to alleviate it rather than looking at it from a much broader context. The writing behind Anyhing Helps doesn’t focus on solving the societal problems that create homelessness, and yet that doesn’t mean that it isn’t something that shouldn’t be addressed, and although it can be a dauntingly complex task for any normal person to tackle on their own when the rest of the world shows indifference, a step as simple as basic communication and empathy can go a long way. Anyhing Helps’ emotionally calm score illustrates this easy going approach as it further highlights an effortless sense of humility, sarcastically custsey humor—which Chloe Baker and Bryce Christopherson handle very well in their down to earth acting style—and an earnestly tranquil soundtrack from Justice Ray, Hannah Morrison, and Carson Ilti. It may not illustrate how to solve the problem of global homelessness, but it does show that communication and the love emulated from simple companionship can go a long way as a first step.