Mental health conditions can have a deep impact on one's interpersonal relationships. As a BFA Cinema & Television Arts student, I have found myself drawn to films that tackle issues of trauma, specifically embodied trauma. Having personally witnessed trauma in my own relationships, I was inspired to research the depiction of embodied trauma in film. I incorporated my findings into my BFA thesis film, Not Enough. Embodied trauma is the physical manifestation of traumatic events from one's past and how those physical symptoms affect one's behavior (van der Kolk, 2014). To conduct my honors research, I read Bessel van der Kolk's foundational text, The Body Keeps the Score, and I watched fifteen films that depict trauma in some way and received critical acclaim and award recognition from the 21st century, analyzing their plot structure and characterization. I then used these findings to inform the writing and direction of my short film, Not Enough. Taking note of how traumatized people tend to avoid direct communication and physical closeness with loved ones, as seen in Good Will Hunting (1997), Aftersun (2022) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), I wrote about a young couple dealing with their rising anxiety about their potential future together. Throughout pre-production, I would meet with my crew to ensure they understood the themes and tone of Not Enough, and how I wanted it to look from a filmmaking perspective. Alongside this, I rehearsed with my cast to make sure they understood the characters' trauma and relationship. During production, my cast and crew were able to work together in unison due to the amount of preparation everyone completed previously.
