Review: Graffiti

A Brilliant Spoken word artist turned Icon for love. A loyal best friend trying to connect. A grieving mother in search of answers and a graffiti artist just trying to paint. All of their lives entangle when one of them tries to let go. In Graffiti, co-writer-director-lead actor Divyansh Sharma gives a powerful performance as brilliant spoken word artist and icon Micheal Dawson, who grieves the memory of his love and insists on protecting her memory by refusing to publish anymore of his work. Sharma presents a solid, round character, and skillfully embodies Dawson’s beautiful journey and emotional arch.

Alejandra Cejudo as Christina

In addition to Sharma's performance, the entire key cast did a great job in Graffiti, and helped getting the best out of the story and its interesting concept of "breaking the fourth wall" (the characters look at the camera and talk directly to the audience). Caroline Deery as Liz (Dawson's late girlfriend) is the ultimate lover-to-miss - she's sweet, funny, and cool, and through flashbacks, we witness some of their best and worst moments together. Shane Skelton as Dawson's best friend Brad Ruthford is not only one of the coolest characters we've seen in a while, but also an honest & clever friend who isn't afraid to tell Dawson the truth, even when it hurts. With his fabulous energy, Brad gets us into the story by revealing the story's stakes at the ideal moment.

Shane Skelton as Brad

Graffiti is the kind of projects that need their actors fully committed. It's never easy to convince someone that your screenplay is good, let alone one with a unique structure. This may be Sharma's biggest achievement - throughout the film, it felt like any of the actors believed in the story and its message, and did their best without doubting the work for a moment. For all of these, Graffiti wins Best Ensemble at the Actors Awards (October 2018), and Sharma wins an Honorable Mention: Actor.