Director Hariharasidhen Nagarajan and writer Anghus Houvouras couldn’t accept “the new normal” of shootings in the United States. Such mass attacks as the Parkland High School shooting and the Pulse Nightclub incident were part of a grim reality that the two weren’t willing to become accustomed to.
They thought of not only the victims whose lives had been tragically cut short, but the survivors who live in a world where their story isn’t necessarily unique. This is what sparked the creative decision to forge ahead with Tether, a quietly devastating drama that doesn’t glorify the shooting at its core, but looks at the aftermath for two specific individuals who are both suffering in manners more similar than they care to realise.
After losing his daughter, Paula (who we see in various stages of her life through flashbacks, at 6-years-old, played by Arielle James, and then at 16, through Sophia Dawson), in a high school shooting, Leonard (Nick Giedris) struggles to hold together the remnants of his previous life. He blames himself for not protecting her, his wife (Joanna Cretella) for not holding on to their marriage, but, mainly, Gerald Gaines (Ben Burton), the school’s former resource officer, who froze during the attack and has been publicly vilified ever since.
For Gerald, no one can hate him more than he hates himself, and after the loss of his mother, he struggles to maintain a grip on his mental health, pondering how much he wants to ultimately succumb to the darkness that so clearly surrounds him. Whilst Leonard and Gerald are tethered together through such an awful event, the film links them psychologically, detailing how their own struggles surprisingly mirror each other; it’s Leonard, quite specifically, who has to overcome his immediate hatred to see that Gerald has by no means continued on with a life worth living.
They also find an unlikely connection through their mutual therapist (Laura Faye Smith), and it’s her words of wisdom – or defiance, really – that sets Leonard on a path of understanding. Whilst professional discretion may be blurred here, she’s the likeliest character in the narrative set-up to push through to Leonard in such a circumstance, serving as a catalyst of understanding for any viewers who, perhaps, also find themself siding with one character over the other. It’s clear that Nagarajan and Houvouras’s intention was to set Tether up as a form of facing this new reality of life where grief is unfortunately common and there’s no right or wrong way to do so.
Almost adhering to a stage play-like mentality, where it bases itself around only a few select locations and core cast members, the intimacy of its story helps the weight cut through. It occasionally falls into melodrama, with Giedris’s performance not always coming off as entirely natural, but the gravity of what is being said is never diminished. The reality of violence lacing every day existence is much harsher than it truly should be and Tether serves as a reminder as both a call to action and a testament to the human spirit.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Tether screened as part of this year’s Dances With Films Festival, running between June 19th and 29th, 2025 at TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles. For more information head to the official site here.
