A group of friends destroy a dead friend's embarrassing secrets.


IT'S WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED is used with permission from Nate Trinrud. Learn more at https://natetrinrud.com.


Maggie welcomes a group of childhood friends back home after the unexpected death of Debra, one of their own. The long-time friends have not just converged for the funeral, but also to fulfill a childhood pact to destroy evidence of their friend's most embarrassing secrets.

So the group sneaks into Deb's childhood home and combs through her bedroom, unearthing incriminating objects and messages. But as they search, long-buried resentments bubble up between them -- including a few shocking secrets that might change how some of them feel about their friend.

Directed by Nate Trinrud from a script written by Marie Semla, who plays the anchor role of Maggie, this short dramedy examines loyalty and love in female friendships, and how it's challenged by secrets, individual choices and the vicissitudes of life. There are plenty of quips, quirky character flourishes and some ribald touches in the sharp, witty writing to amp up the comedy. But at the core, the film focuses on how feelings about a friend can grow complicated, even when they're gone, making for a resonant emotional impact.

With its punchy rhythm and dynamic visuals, the effervescent opening introduces the group in a rush of buoyant energy, and the ensemble is broadly drawn, though specific, with a fun, lived-in dynamic between them all. Maggie stands out as the solid, no-nonsense leader, spearheading and corralling everyone in the operation as they up-end their friend's old bedroom. They uncover funny, incriminating things that indicate Deb's wild side, but when Maggie unearths something with more serious implications, the film shifts registers.

Though all the actors are solid and memorable, as an actor, Semla covers the most emotional ground as Maggie, as the discovery changes her feelings towards her deceased friend. She is shocked, and her grief takes on a different shading, becoming more ambiguous and complex. Semla deftly conveys Maggie's anguish, pulling the film into more serious territory, and she must reconcile her love for her friend with what she uncovers about her.

In many ways, IT'S WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED is a story about legacy and grief, especially when we learn things about someone that complicate our feelings for them and they're not available to reconcile the ambiguity. Those feelings of betrayal have no easily available recourse for resolution; they sit there, congealing and festering. But Maggie can come to some peace when she sees a bigger context for her suffering and witnesses a deeper sorrow than her own. We're left pondering what we want to leave to our loved ones, and how to carry the love in the present into the future when we're not with them to make repairs or memories anymore.