Chelsea Lupkin
Sometimes it’s hard to be happy, and sometimes a friend is exactly what you need to get through it. A quiet film about sadness, Far Away is an intimate portrait of two friends holding space for one another in a time of need. Short of the Week alum Emily Murnane (Outside), in collaboration with writing partner and actress Alyssa Limperis, creates a deeply personal story about grief and what it means to truly show up for your friends. Adding levity to life’s hardships, Murnane’s film is a compassionate exploration of how to cope when all you can do is stay afloat.
They say comedy is born from the darkest places and for these two comedians, creating something as cathartic as Far Away, is a bit of a departure. When catching this at the Seattle International Film Festival back in May, I can attest to witnessing not a dry eye in the house – and not in the way you’d expect.
Alyssa Limperis (L) & Caroline Cotter star as friends in Murnane’s Far Away
Narratively, we never learn the source of the protagonist’s grief; instead, the film centers on the steady empathy of a friend who refuses to leave her side, played by another fellow comedian Caroline Cotter. Their chemistry is deeply heartwarming, especially as they lean into the weird and often inappropriate jests that keep things lighthearted. With cinematographer Andrew Daugherty’s camera acting almost like a voyeur within the tiny apartment space, we’re able to experience the situation as if we, too, are present in the room. It’s this subtle, thoughtful approach to filmmaking that allows Far Away to quietly stand out.
Murnane and Limperis are no strangers to collaboration. On the contrary, their work and friendship are what make this film so authentic. Both have battled and bonded over their own mental health struggles, a subject that has become a recurring thread in their work. Limperis initially had the idea to write a story about friendship, based on a moment of darkness that led her to call a suicide hotline – only to be placed on hold.
She hung up and called a friend instead, who stayed on the phone with her for hours, laughing together about the sheer absurdity of the situation. Months later, the experience evolved into a script. “I was in the midst of a traumatic breakup and my mental health was being buoyed entirely by my friendships, including with Alyssa,” Murnane tells Short of the Week.
Then one afternoon, Limperis found herself sitting with Murnane as she lay unable to move from the couch, and the two began verbally writing the script together. “It poured out of us in a single day. It was just an entirely raw version of the feelings we both knew so well, but also a love letter to each other and the friendships that have been our lifeline when it felt like all hope was lost.”
Murnane says that they shot the film in a way that felt “aloof and removed to mimic the detachment of the main character.”
This is the kind of low-budget, minimalistic two-hander that combines humor with honesty in a way that feels both heartfelt and universally relatable. As mentioned, Murnane and Limperis are both comedians in their own right, and they see depression and comedy as inextricably linked – a necessary coping mechanism. “No matter how impossibly bleak things get, we’re still looking for an angle to make it funny,” the director reveals.
The dialogue and jokes create a character dynamic for Far Away that forces you to empathize and root for them onscreen. “Cracking jokes even when you’re ready to die. Depression doesn’t look like any one specific thing and we wanted to convey what our version of it looks like.” It’s this particular setup that makes the bed scene, shot from a god-like perspective, all the more compelling. And yes – I cried again while rewatching it to write this review.
Filmed in Murnane’s actual apartment, the production was as intimate as the story itself, with just four people on set: Limperis and Cotter in front of the camera, cinematographer and co-producer Andrew Daugherty behind it, alongside Murnane herself. “The four of us are all very close friends who fully trusted one another to create an atmosphere where we felt safe to experience the emotions of the film together, cry together, unpack together.”
“True to the film’s title, depression makes life feel far away, and we wanted the visual language of the film to reflect that”
A beautiful little film that thematically explores the sensation of feeling far away, the camera often peers through doorways, glasses, and in reflections. “True to the film’s title, depression makes life feel far away, and we wanted the visual language of the film to reflect that,” the director concludes.
Murnane is currently in post-production on another short about grief, Going Home, starring Limperis and Patton Oswalt, and is also in the middle of writing a comedy feature with Limperis titled Moving Backwards, about a thirty-something trying to get a handle on her life. We imagine there will be many more laughs and tears in our future!