“Even when we can’t fully communicate, we can still understand one another”, filmmaker Joe Borg tells East End Review.
It’s a powerful sentiment – one which forms the basis of his award-winning 2025 film Resaca, which comes to the Omeleto YouTube channel today (Tuesday, 3 March).
The film follows Ryan, a “severely hungover man” who finds himself reluctantly on a walk with Fran, his Argentinian neighbour who speaks little English.
“What begins as an awkward encounter gradually reveals something deeper: they’re both grieving”, Borg says. “Fran is grieving her son, and Ryan his mother. Without realising it at first, they become the support system the other didn’t know they needed”.
Borg knew he wanted to create a comedic drama exploring the subject of grief and its universality early on in the filmmaking process. “It’s something everyone will experience, regardless of nationality, language or age, and yet it can feel incredibly isolating”, he adds.
“I wanted to create a story that could offer comfort without being heavy-handed.
“The initial spark came from friends who went on a walk with a new neighbour they’d met in a WhatsApp group. They quickly realised she could barely speak English, and the conversation became awkward and stilted. I loved the comic potential of that situation”.
From there, the intersection of grief and language became a natural subject matter. For Borg – who was born to a Maltese family in Barking and now lives in East Ham – linguistic and cultural barriers have always been of interest.
“As the child of migrants, I’ve often felt slightly outside of things, and that perspective definitely informs the characters I write”, he adds. “I’m drawn to underdogs and unlikely heroes, people who don’t necessarily take up space in obvious ways.
“Growing up around big Maltese personalities, I was often the quieter observer in the room. I spent a lot of time watching how people communicated, especially those speaking in a second language. That idea of existing between cultures and languages naturally found its way into Resaca”.
The language barrier between Fran and Ryan is also instrumental to illustrate how the different characters process their grief.
“At its core, the film explores loneliness and grief as a universal language”, Borg adds. “Ryan uses alcohol to distract himself from his loss, while Fran, two years on from hers, is still living inside it and searching for connection.
“They’re at different stages of grief, reflected in the languages they speak. But emotionally, they’re experiencing the same thing”.
Borg hopes Resaca will be accessible to those who need it now the film is available to stream in a new way. He adds: “Omeleto is an incredible platform for short films and offers exposure that’s hard to replicate elsewhere”
“I’m thrilled for Resaca to be on the channel so it can reach a wider audience – particularly anyone who may be experiencing grief and in need of something that feels both light and understanding”.
Stream Resaca on the Omeleto YouTube channel here.
