Stay At Home, Mom - Short Review

Whether you are a burnt out mom or not, Stay At Home, Mom resonates with a soul taxed and frazzled by the duties of life. Zappulla delivers a poignant, quiet, and even exhilarating film here. We feel the pressure, the urgent, inexplicable need for escape. Zappulla takes care to establish a sense of suffocating claustrophobia. Life bombards our heroine to the point that it seems she cannot breathe.

Tense, subtle, and humorous, Stay At Home, Mom packs a lot of emotion into the spaces. Zappulla deftly tells the tale of the serene escape most mothers secretly dream of.

Mary Zappulla won Best Director for her work on "Stay At Home, Mom" at the 11th annual Top Shorts 2025.

Review by Top Shorts' juror, Casey Ruggieri.