"You have one new message."

She's grieving. She's hollow. And on her birthday, everything finally bursts.

A 25-minute short film by A.J. Fitzgerald

The Story

Janine is thirty, made of vinyl, and feeling nothing. Her best friend plans a lowkey birthday, her boss gives the worst advice imaginable, and dinner goes sideways.

Across one long, terrible day, a single message threatens to pop her carefully air-tight autopilot routine.

A tragicomedy about grief, anhedonia, and that feeling you get when you can't feel anything at all.

Visual Language

Core Themes

Grief & Loss

Raw, honest exploration of mourning and emotional numbness

Absurdist Humor

Surreal moments that capture the chaos of coping

Identity Crisis

Finding yourself when you feel completely hollow

Anhedonia

The feeling of feeling nothing at all

Emotional Honesty

No filter, just raw feeling and vulnerability

Breaking Point

What happens when you finally let it all out

Key Characters

Janine

Maria Todero

A woman on the edge of 30, grieving her father, going through the motions of a life that doesn't feel like hers anymore.

The Boss / Ms. Dolly Moore

Tenaya Cleveland

The woman in the red blazer who keeps everything running. Sharp, commanding, impossible to ignore.

Scott

Don-Dimitri Joseph

Janine's partner, desperate to help, exhausted from trying, unsure what's left to give.

Miranda

Danielle Rodd

Janine's best friend trying to pull her back to reality, one awkward conversation at a time.

Watch the Trailer

Critical Reception

"Blowing Up is an honest, down-to-earth representation of grief and how battling it affects people differently. Director A.J. Fitzgerald paints us a vivid picture of Janine's perspective, her grappling with her grief as society urges her to move on even when she's not ready to do so."

Incluvie

02 / 06

The Team

Written & Directed by

A.J. Fitzgerald

Producers

Don-Dimitri Joseph
Tequisha "TQ" Hendrickson
Lovely Jones

Director of Photography

Christopher Cerda

Starring

Maria Todero · Tenaya Cleveland · Don-Dimitri Joseph
Danielle Rodd · Melanie Miranda · Aleesha Flow

A Film by Fitz of Rage Film

In association with 2ReelKweenz