The Doon School

Official Selection, Three Rivers Film Festival
Official Selection, Festivus Film Festival
Official Selection, Mid-Valley Video Festival
Second Place, Now Film Festival
Official Selection, Bare Bones International Film Festival
Official Selection, Appalachian Film Festival
Official Selection, Lake Forest Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Twin Rivers Media Festival

"The results are heartfelt and poetic. If McNelly is striving to craft an indie film masterwork gravida is a major step in the right direction." -- Thom Ryan, Film of the Year

"Like the best films about intimacy, it draws you in close but leaves out enough that you can project your own hopes and fears onto the characters...Resisting the temptation to simplify, gravida invites us to ponder the complexity of the choices we make, the unreliability of human connections." -- Matt Riviera, Last Night with Riviera

"it shows that you don't need a lot of money to make a smart, personal, interesting movie." -- Bohemian Cinema

"Rachel Shaw and Adam Kukic find their stride as the story builds and are able to sell the idea that their characters are facing troubling, adult decisions." -- Adam Ross, DVD Panache

"an excellent short film. Beautifully photographed with a terrific lead performance by Rachel Shaw...the film effectively creates a very somber tone that it is able to sustain throughout. It almost works as a silent film, as the visuals are so strong." -- TalkingMoviezzz.com

"he uses the medium perfectly: revealing pieces about characters in matter-of-fact glimpses, letting the audience in on what the other characters don't know just yet." -- LAZY EYE THEATRE

"...undeniably represents a big step forward for its director." -- Andrew Horbal

"gravida is small film in the best sense, one that’s exactly the right size for the story it tells. McNelly’s direction is subtle enough not to overwhelm the film, but strong enough to assure us that there’s a firm hand on the wheel." -- Paul Clark, Silly Hats Only

"A film of understated elegance and thoughtfulness that allows the viewer to glimpse, ever so briefly, a moment in time that will be burned for eternity in the heart and mind of its protagonist." -- Cinema Styles

"gravida marks the first sure steps in what one hopes will be a long and fruitful filmmaking career for its director." -- Dennis Cozzalio

...a graceful snapshot of a particular situational loneliness. It's subtle enough to suggest answers but wise enough not to ask the questions in the first place." -- The Film Experience