The Other Way is a short film by Joe Hawley, which was his senior thesis as a film major. It was originally hosted on the band's official website, and is currently hosted on a fan's Vimeo page.
Plot[]
Joe himself plays the protagonist, Hank. Hank arrives at a pizzeria, where he meets up with his ex-girlfriend Chelsea. She asks him where he was, Hank tells her that he was pulled over for a speeding ticket, she then tells him that her grandfather passed away earlier that day, there is for some reason a box on the table, Hank asks what's in it, where she pulls out a baby, not just a baby, HIS baby, Fabian, who was born the previous day. She then tells him that they are going to the pool. Once they arrive, Hank notices a bunch of dads and their awful children, an overwhelmed Hank jumps into the swimming pool hoping that he will drown, but instead manages to send time moving backwards. (From this point, all of the footage is played backwards, and the dialogue is subtitled.)
When Hank emerges from the pool, he goes back to where Fabian and Chelsea were, but Chelsea is nowhere to be found. He goes back to the pizzeria and asks two other people what is happening, they explain to him that time is going backwards. He then calls Chelsea, and she explains to him that she is hiding from him in order to prevent Fabian from being unborn. She is shown to be at her grandfather's bedside at the hospital, watching him come back to life.
Hank goes to one of Chelsea's friend's house, he asks where Chelsea is, but they won't answer him because they know what he did and shut the door on him. Hank travels with Fabian in hand, to the hospital throughout the night, hoping to arrive before Fabian's time of birth but falls asleep, when he wakes up he realizes he's at the hospital, he then rushes into the hospital. He speaks with Chelsea's grandfather, who tells him that the only circumstances one can count on are life and death and that the events in between are unimportant, hinting at the nature of the backwards universe, Hank then leaves him and hangs out outside and puts Fabian on a crib. Hank then sees Chelsea being pulled down the hallway in a stretcher, and when a doctor asks where the baby is, Hank points to Fabian and the doctor yoinks the baby, he then enters the room where Chelsea calls him a bastard and we see Hank watching Fabian being put back in the womb.
In the ending scene, Hank is happily driving and singing "Ruler of Everything" but then gets pulled over, where the cop who originally gave him a speeding ticket lets him off with a warning. As the film ends, Hank hears Chelsea's grandfather's voice in his head, reminding him of his own inevitable "unbirth" that he will eventually have to face.
Credits[]
Written, Directed, and Edited by: Joe Hawley
Directer of Photography, Camera Operator, and Assistant Editor: Sean Stewert
Sound Recordist, Sound Engineer, Foley, 3-D Animation: Bora Karaca
Producer: Latesia Collies
Associate Producers: Joe Hawley & Sean Stewart
Music: Andrew Horowitz
Assistant Director: David Koll
Executive Producer: Jennifer Hardacker
Script Supervisor, Production Assistant: Joanne Lazarus
Associate Producer: Shrihari Sathe
Propmaster, Production Assistant: Kioto Patterson
Production Assistant: Selcen Onsan
CAST (in order of appearance):
Jim Kote as Police Officer
Joe Hawley as Hank
Rob Cantor as Calculator Nerd
Shamil Kotecha as Rubik's Nerd
Elizabeth Hoyt as Chelsea
Paul Mansoor as Cannonballer
Corey Anotonishen as Teenage Dude
Kioto Patterson as Jacuzzi Dad
Ken Wood as Nachos Dad
Bora Karaca as Pizza Clerk
Phillip Kerr as Grandfather
Lauren Safran as Katie
Rebecca Schultz as Jess
Jirwon Lee as Heather
Jeff Richardson as Male Nurse
Latesia Collies as Female Nurse
Hank Greenspan as Doctor
EXTRAS:
Destiny Hall
Denisha Hall
Dynasty Walden
Gus Aguilar Sr.
Gus Aguilar Jr.
Gabriella Aguilar
Yessica Aguilar
"Baby, Baby (feat. Burb Whitey)" by MC MC
"Ruler of Everything" by Tally Hall
SPECIAL THANKS:
Pamela Andreatta
Jim Burnstein
Lauren Cantor
Rob Cantor
Nik Frank-Lehrer
Bryn Haffey
Jennifer Hardacker
Reda Khalafella
Andrew Laurich
Carolyn Lehr
Andy Lichtstein
Amy Patt
Benjamin Rosenblatt
Steve Rudolph
Shirihari Sathe
Mike Williamson
Alan Young
Ann Arbor Fairfield Marriott
Bell's Pizza
Keego Harbor Police Department
Mott's Children Hospital
Made possible in part by: The Alice Webber Glover Scholarship
administered by the program in film and video studies at The University of Michigan
Connections to Tally Hall[]
- Rob Cantor plays the "Calculator Nerd".
- Bora Karaca plays the "Pizza Clerk".
- Andrew Horowitz is credited with the music for the film.
- The song Ruler of Everything is featured backwards in the ending scene, with Hank singing along to the bridge.