This article is jointly published with K-Ute Radio as part of collaborative coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
“Without Kelly,” a short film by Lovisa Sirén, is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the short film program. The film marks Sirén’s second appearance at the festival. The story depicts Esther, a young mother, faced with being separated from her young child, Kelly, for the first time. The story is inspired by Sirén’s own experience as a young parent.
The film follows Esther on the day she drops off her daughter at the father’s for his visitation days. The day starts with Esther and Kelly in the park when the mother frantically realizes that her daughter is no longer in her line of sight.
Sirén explained her choice to start the film with a common fear that many parents face, losing their child, even for just a second, “I wanted the viewer to feel something that resembles the actual feeling, like when you lose a child in the park,” she said. “I think for people who are parents, it’s like their worst fear.” Not only is Esther faced with the fear of losing Kelly at the park, but also the reality that she must be separated from her when Kelly is with her father.
Sirén encapsulates the hole that Kelly’s absence leaves in Esther throughout the film. Once Esther returns to her home without Kelly, the viewer witnesses that deprivation, “Every parent who’s separated feels that anxiety about, when you come home and see the toys and all your kids’ stuff, but your kid is not there,” Sirén said.
Along with the loneliness, Esther’s character represents a lack of control that a young mother can experience. There is a physical tie between the mother and her child when Esther breastfeeds her, and Sirén wanted that to be showcased, as well as the emotional tie. “A big part of why I wanted to tell this story was to explore the physical, the body and the physical thing around being a mother with a small child,” she said. “It became really important to have the breastfeeding there and show it as much as I could, because it’s something that we can’t really control.”
“Without Kelly” represents the maternal responsibility a young mother can feel, and the feelings of vulnerability and longing that come with that. Screening information about the film can be found here.
