TL;DR – A strong central character is a foundation for an interesting story about family  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –


If you have read my reviews before you will know that I am a sucker for a work of media that delves into family relationships. Who we chose our families to be and how we relate to people are full of emotional stories to tell and this is one of them.

Concern for Welfare is a title that has multiple meanings throughout the short film. On the surface, it is the police term for when a member of the public has a concern for the welfare of someone else. This is important for Ali (Nicole Chamoun) because she is a probationary police officer being shown the ropes by Sambo (Ryan Johnson) her supervisor. They have to check on an elderly gentleman that people have not seen for weeks.

It is also a title that has ramifications for Ali’s home life. She lives with a controlling older brother Karim (Sam Alhaje) who comes from the ignoring the plank in his eye while pointing out every speck of sawdust in hers school of relating to people. But then there is also the relationship with her mother, and all of this builds and builds throughout the film.

In many respects, this feels like a test run for the characters and the setting, and I for one am here for it. There were some interesting family dynamics, the character of Ali was fantastic, and overall it was a powerful short film to watch.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Concern for Welfare
Directed by – Fadia Abboud
Written by – Nick Parsons
Music by – Kyls Burtland
Cinematography by – Nicholas Owens
Edited by – Katrina Barker
Production/Distribution Companies – Red Seeds
Starring – Nicole Chamoun, Ryan Johnson, Sam Alhaje, Alissar Gazal, Hunter McMahon & Robert Rowe   
Rating – Australia: Around an MA15+