ONE SPLIT SECOND

Name: ONE SPLIT SECOND
Item: ONE SPLIT SECOND
Author: Review

"Rediscovering Hope Through Family"

Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

ONE SPLIT SECOND is a drama on Amazon Prime. Shot in 1995 but reconstructed using Artificial Intelligence, it tells the story of conservative radio host Russell Baker. Russell loses his faith in the world after the tragic murder of his wife. Complicating matters is the re-appearance of his estranged son, Deon, who needs Russell’s help to keep from heading down a dark path. Things seem to go well, until Russell discovers that Deon is part of the gang involved in his wife’s tragic death. Their relationship is now on the precipice of total disaster.

ONE SPLIT SECOND was made possible through the use of AI, but the tech sometimes gives the movie an unreal feeling that’s distracting to the viewer. Also, the movie was made on a very small budget, so it has low production values, from the sets, to the performances, to poor camerawork. ONE SPLIT SECOND has a strong moral worldview, with some redemptive elements. It stresses repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. However, it also has some foul language and violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and sensitive viewers.

Content:

(BB, C, LL, V, D, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview, with some redemptive themes, as the movie’s central theme is understanding the debt we owe each other as we live and work in society, as well as facing the consequences of your actions such as young man accepts imprisonment for his role in a murder, plus lead character is shown to be an absent father throughout much of young man’s life and he initially wants nothing to do with his son, even after he’s informed his son’s mother was arrested, but he later says his growing relationship with Deon is the “best thing” to happen to him since his wife’s death;

Foul Language:

12 obscenities include four “s” words;

Violence:

One scene shows a physical fight between a man and gang members that culminates in wife being shot off screen (she dies), and one scene shows young man putting a gun to father’s head, but he does not shoot;

Sex:

No sex;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

Two scenes feature characters smoking cigars, but no drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Man chose not to be involved in estranged son’s life from the beginning and gets angry when his wife asks why he hadn’t told her about him or made efforts to be in his life, man is also reluctant to help son even after he’s told son’s mother was arrested, and son has nowhere to go, estranged son is extremely disrespectful to Russell throughout the movie but ultimately accepts estranged father’s help to improve his life, and the son tries to run away from the police when it’s revealed he had a hand in Eileen’s murder but does agree to turn himself into the police and serves time in prison.

More Detail:

ONE SPLIT SECOND is a technological marvel; the movie, initially shot in 1995 on 16mm film, was lost. A VHS tape of the movie was found 28 years later and, with the help of AI, brought back to life. The movie tells the story of Russell Baker, a conservative radio host who must handle the tragic death of his wife and his newfound custody of his estranged son.

ONE SPLIT SECOND opens with a young couple arguing as they walk to their car after a night out at the movies. They’re interrupted by a gang who pick a fight with them. A gunshot goes off, but before viewers can see what happened, the movie rewinds to a day earlier.

Russell Baker has it all – a job as a conservative radio talk show host, the possibility of his show going national, and a loving wife, Eileen, who’s also pregnant with their first child. Russell receives news that the show he co-hosts with his liberal friend, Dave, will be syndicated and they will move to New York.

To celebrate, he gives Eileen a beautiful pin and the two go out to see a movie. Afterwards, Eileen asks Russell who Gina is. While cleaning their house, she found a piece of paper that says Russell is the father to a son he never mentioned to Eileen. They argue, as Russell prefers to leave the past in the past, when they are suddenly interrupted by gang members. Things escalate, and Eileen is shot and killed.

As Russell grieves, he starts to lose hope in his previous ideals that hard work and courtesy to each other will always win the day, and that there’s a God-given meaning to life. Amid this turmoil, he gets a phone call from Child Protective Services, who inform him that he needs to pick up his son, Deon. Deon’s mother, Gina, was arrested for drug possession and endangering a minor.

Russell initially doesn’t want to get involved but ultimately brings Deon home with him. The two males immediately clash. Deon doesn’t know or respect Russell, and Russell thinks Deon is a punk who represents everything he opposes. Deon steals Russell’s car and runs away but returns later that day with a black eye. He reveals that he’s in a gang and, when he told them he wanted out, they beat him up. Russell offers to help Deon get his act together, and he accepts.

The father and son start to grow closer, as Russell introduces Deon to writings from Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, brings him to the radio station, and plays basketball with him. However, they fight once again, and Deon storms off. While Russell packs his things, he finds the pin he gave Eileen the night she died in Deon’s bag. Deon was one of the gang members that caused her death.

Deon returns, ready to continue working on bettering himself, but Russell confronts him with the pin. Their relationship is now on the precipice of total disaster.

ONE SPLIT SECOND reflects the amazing technological advancements the world has made – AI made it possible to view today. However, the AI-doctored scenes give parts of the movie an unreal feeling, taking the viewer out of the story. ONE SPLIT SECOND was also made on a shoestring budget, so the sets and performances are a bit amateurish. Parts of the movie are confusing at times, as well, due to strange cuts or subpar audio. For example, in the scene where Eileen is killed, it’s unclear if she or Russell is the one who was shot.

Overall, however, ONE SPLIT SECOND has a strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements. Russell works to try and help Deon improve his life and, in the end, seemingly forgives his son for the death of Eileen. Deon also has a redemptive journey, learning the importance of following the laws of society and facing the consequences for your actions. However, Russell is shown to be an absent father. He knew about Deon and chose not to be in his life for years and is very reluctant to bring him home, even after the authorities tells him Deon’s mother has been arrested, and he has no one else.

Finally, ONE SPLIT SECOND has some foul language used, as well as a few scenes featuring smoking and brief violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and sensitive viewers.