Brace yourself.8/31/16: This beautiful spec commercial for Johnnie Walker, shot on the Isle of Sky by two film students, will give you all the feels. The filmmakers are Daniel Titz and Dorian Lebherz, students at the Film Academy of Baden-Württemberg, and they made the whole thing for $9,000.

Featuring music by Renée Abe and a poem written and read by voice actor John “Bang” Reilly, it’s honestly the most moving bit of cinema I’ve seen in a long time. And it achieves all that in 1:30. Phenomenal. I hope these lovely boys go on to make many, many more beautiful films of whatever length.

Here is the poem:

Walking the roads of our youth
through the land of our childhood, our home and our truth

Be near me, guide me
always stay beside me so i can be free, free

Lets roam this place
familiar and vast
our playground of green frames, our past

We were wanderers
never lost, always home

When every place was fenceless
and time was endless
our ways were always the same

Cool my demons and walk with me brother
until our roads lead us away from each other
and if your heart’s full of sorrow, keep walking, don’t rest
and promise me from heart to chest
to never let your memories die, never

I will always be alive and by your side,
in your mind

I’m free

Bizarrely, Johnny Walker declined to use the ad. I think they’re nuts. You’ll soon see why.

Ready? Here we go . . .

When you need a break from obsessively replaying the video and crying (or is that just me?), there’s a quite good interview with Lebherz on Adweek that’s worth checking out. Now please pass the tissues.

Oh, and NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE. Thanks.