If this 10-minute short film doesn’t immediately send you racing to your phone to send your mother an “I love you” text, you might want to check your pulse. Dotty, the incredibly moving short film about an old British woman trying to text her daughter, is moving even the coldest critics to tears and has already won accolades from South By Southwest, the Nantucket Film Festival, and the LA Shorts Fest, just to name a few.

DOTTY

The film, which takes a poignant look at how the rapid advancement of technology has, in many ways, left older generations behind, is an honest and touching representation of the evolution of communication. While even the most patient of us sometimes struggle to keep our calm with parents who just don’t seem to understand the “simplest” of technology, the film, a product of Mick Andrews and Brett O’Gorman, is a beautiful reminder of the importance of patience and understanding, especially in a world that often moves too quickly.

The plot of the movie is simple and familiar enough — an old woman in a nursing home is trying to send a text message to her daughter, and is hindered by seemingly simple roadblocks. How does she unlock her phone? How does she navigate her way to her text messages? How does she actually compose and send a text? And perhaps most heart-rendering, what is her daughter’s name?

This rare glimpse into a very legitimate reality gives viewers a unique sense of empathy for those who did not grow up practically attached to their cellphones, when the most efficient answer to any question is, “Google it.” Sometimes, as Dotty points out, that simply isn’t enough to solve a problem.

So get out your biggest box of Kleenex (or was that just me?) and be prepared to spend the next few moments sighing in exasperation, chuckling in amusement, and dabbing away your tears in recognition of the brevity and beauty of life, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child.