Wish 143 (S)

"Brit TV helmer Ian Barnes follows with the extremely satisfying emotional entry "Wish 143," centered on a teenage cancer patient whose dying desire is to lose his virginity. Working from Tom Bidwell's sharp script while anchoring the whole enterprise with a perfectly unsentimental performance from you-saw-him-here-first young thesp Sam Holland, Barnes defies every bad-taste trapping such a story might suggest to deliver a warm, witty and wonderfully lived-in portrait of a boy dealing with premature mortality in the most understandably human way imaginable. Expect everyone involved to parlay this treasure into feature-length industry work. " 

"The standout, however, is Ian Barnes' "Wish 143," a sterlingly acted piece of wry melancholia about the scheming surrounding a cancer-ridden teenage boy's libidinous response to a charity's wish-granting gesture. Unexpectedly funny and effortlessly touching, it's a story of rapidly diminished time conveyed with fittingly economic artistry, the hallmark of any truly memorable short film."