From Omeleto.
A woman uploads the wrong video.
VLOG is used with permission from Yvonne Strahovski. Learn more at https://instagram.com/yvonnestrahovski.
An aspiring mommy blogger balances her ambitions and creativity with child-rearing and housework. Her days are often busy and sometimes stressful and boring, running after her two adorable but rambunctious children and the relentless chores they engender. But her vlogs make sure to stay positive, cheerful and competent, and she starts to gain traction online.
But then she unexpectedly finds out she’s pregnant with her third child. This new life development is both joyful and exhausting, especially as she’s hit with debilitating morning sickness. At her lowest point, trying to balance it all, a raw, unfiltered parenting moment gets uploaded, embarrassing her and threatening her carefully maintained online persona.
Directed and written by Emmy-nominated actor Yvonne Strahovski — whom audiences will know from THE HANDMAID’S TALE, and who also plays the lead role here — this raw, funny and empathetic short dramedy explores the chaos behind the curated facade of social media, as a mother trying to launch a blogging career balances the messy, unfiltered realities of "mom life" with the pressure to present polished perfection to her audience. When those boundaries between authentic life and performative digital identity collapse, her momentum as an online presence is at stake, along with her pride.
The storytelling is a deft, skillful blend of drama and comedy, traversing moments of exhaustion, frustration, humor, and vulnerability. It finds both humor and conflict in the mother’s tug of war between her “real self” and “social media self," often capturing these moments with both wry irony and affection. "Mom life" is presented unfiltered and unvarnished, with piles of mess, child demands, a snoring spouse and dishes stacking up everywhere, all captured with a documentary-like intimacy in the visuals. It’s a rich and funny contrast with the polished gleam of the mother’s vlogs, which present the chaos as well-controlled and curated.
As the protagonist, Strahovski is excellent, allowing a loose, natural side of her performance range to shine here that is a revelation, especially to those who only know her from her iconic role as the controlled, ruthless Serena on THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Here, she’s frustrated, loving, vulnerable, stressed-out, annoyed, joyful, affectionate and bored, running the gamut of emotions that many modern mothers may recognize in themselves. Her more polished persona may be a career aspiration, but it’s a desire to feel more in control and have something that is just hers, as well. So when a rogue video threatens that, we understand how calamitous it feels to this particular mother — and how much the response means to her when the comments start rolling in.
VLOG is Strahovski’s debut as a writer-director, and she achieves something real, funny, authentic and moving with this smart, sincere film. Shot in her own home, featuring members of her real family and capturing moments of Strahovski’s own pregnancy, its versimilitude is captivating in its intimacy, though its storytelling prowess consciously crafts a strong character and poignant emotional impact. It cuts through the gloss of social media to remind us of what lies beneath the surface, and through its embrace of authenticity, it offers a moment of recognition and understanding for modern parents and a reminder that perfection is an illusion for all of us.
