HollyShorts Special 2 - A Scent Review

“I think I can smell Parkinsons” – Nancy

Debuting at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival, A Scent is writer & director Johnny Russell’s tribute to the British National Health Service. As he says; “This film is a token of support for the thousands of underpaid, overworked NHS nurses by acting as a metaphor for the miracles that these kind-hearted medical staff perform every day.” It’s also an acknowledgement and appreciation for often-overlooked value of instinct, examining how women's observations and lived experience can be dismissed within medical and institutional environments.

A Scent packs a lot of story and exposition into an all-too-brief eighteen and a half minute running time. Inspired by the true story of Joy Milne, the film follows scrub nurse Nancy (Josie Walker) who works alongside her husband, Gavin (Cal MacAninch) a lead surgeon. During an operation, Nancy notices Gavin’s hand is shaking, just as he’s about to make an incision. She also notices an increasing new aroma about him.

Nancy discovers that she is developing the ability to actually smell early onset Parkinsons Disease, a notion that is gruffly dismissed by her husband who insists it’s stress. However, tests prove Nancy correct, she does have this ability, and Gavin is succumbing to Parkinsons.

But this isn’t some Twilight Zone type fantasy about an ordinary person developing an extrasensory ability with a twist in the tail – not at all. In addition to the story being based on a true story, the film is an authentic and sensitive look at the largely unspoken side of neurological illness and its toll, not only on those suffering the disease, but also the family carers who have watch the personalities of their loved ones slowly fade away and is supported by the Parkinsons UK charity.

Rob Rating = 9