The Edge

A short film by Alan Wartes about revenge and the consequences of "routine" violence.

It doesn’t take a genius to point out that our culture has become steadily — relentlessly — desensitized to violence. Our social media feeds are saturated with it. Entertainment of all kinds now seem dependent on upping the ante with increasingly violent themes and images to keep our attention. Now, political violence has again begun to raise its ugly head on a regular basis. Some seemed shocked by it all, wondering how it came to this.

In 2013, I wrote and directed a short film called “The Edge” that took up that question and others. Why do we accept some forms of violence as “just the way things are” while condemning others? Does violence have to involve physical assault, or does inflicting other kinds of harm qualify? Could it be that none of us can claim innocence, but rather “all have sinned (violently) and come short of the Glory of God?”

This isn’t an easy film to watch, partly because we join the characters in a moment of intense pain as a consequence of their choices. Mostly, though, we intuitively see ourselves in it and are called to repent of the violence still present in our own lives — in what we do, but also in what we allow and approve.

Many thanks to the actors and film artists who collaborated on this project. Please notice them when the credits roll.