Subaru's bittersweet goodbye

In this gorgeously-shot and poignant short film for car brand Subaru, One at Optimus director Luke Jaden tugs at our heart strings with a touching tale that’s heartbreakingly close to home. 

Through sensitive and cinematic vignettes, the director brings to life his own family's experience of giving up their rescued Australian Shepherd dog, Finley, to his recently widowed grandmother. 

Told entirely without dialogue and starring Jaden's grandma and Finley as themselves, the creative brims with quiet, reflective and emotionally raw moments.

“This story really left an imprint on me," explained Jaden. "It really resonates with the stories I want to tell and share with the world. Visually, I love films like Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas and Terrence Malick's Badlands and Days of Heaven that capture Americana so well. Ultimately, they truly feel poignant and poetic like a Norman Rockwell painting. So, I really wanted to explore these emotions through the medium of a short film for Subaru's Outback and that's what we set out to make with Finley”.