There’s been a lot of bad news, recently. Nothing affecting me directly, but it seems like people around me are caught in an endless wave of serious illness and the loss of parents and pets and other tragic events. Maybe that’s just life, and I’m only noticing because it’s midwinter, which always feels to me like a vast wasteland of suck anyway. But whatever the reason, it’s caused me to do a bit of reflecting about the preciousness of life. So when I saw this lovely short film, and I knew I had to share.

This is “Backstory,” written and directed by German commercial director Joschka Laukeninks. He refers to the film as a “drama about humanity in live action.” In just seven minutes, the story takes us along the entire life of a man from birth to death, sharing with us all the significant moments in between. Laukeninks cleverly shot nearly all the scenes from behind the protagonist’s head, turning him into every man while using that vulnerable neck to somehow keep the viewer emotionally connected. And there’s a lot of surprises packed into those seven minutes.

I think the takeaway is to treasure the moments we have with the people we love. It’s easy to get distracted by things like career, status, and success. But in the end, no matter how much we acquire or achieve, nothing will matter as much as our relationships.

You can see more of Laukeninks’ beautiful work on his website.