Review: The Gratitude List (2026)

The Gratitude List is an absorbing short film about the emotional fatigue that can arise when empathy is replaced by relentless optimism. Starring Sunny Hinduja and Shinjini Raval, the film examines the friction between what is often celebrated as positivity and the far simpler, but far rarer, human need to be heard.

At the centre of the narrative is a seemingly benign therapeutic exercise, which is the act of writing a “gratitude list.” What begins as a routine counselling task gradually reveals the widening communication gap between a husband, Vikram (Sunny Hinduja), and his wife, Mugdha (Shinjini Raval). Vikram approaches life with the conviction that every problem demands a solution and every setback can be reframed as an opportunity. Mugdha, however, finds this unrelenting optimism less comforting than suffocating. Whenever she attempts to process a disappointment, such as losing a role, Vikram responds with familiar assurances, as everything happens for a reason, and perhaps she would have been typecast anyway. His instinct is always to correct, reinterpret or improve the situation, rarely to acknowledge the feeling itself. The pattern extends into her professional life. In one revealing moment, he barges into her room during an audition recording simply to retrieve a charger. Instead of apologising, he later suggests the interruption may have helped her “get the emotion right,” a remark that captures his tendency to bend events to fit his philosophy of positivity.

The film also hints at how such positivity can quietly slip into control. Vikram monitors Mugdha’s diet, urging her towards soup and salad instead of the pizza she craves, invoking the familiar maxim that one is what one eats. Even her clothing choices attract his correction. When she dresses in black for an audition involving a widow at a funeral, he objects, insisting that the universe merely reflects the energy one projects into it. His advice spills into her craft as well, and at one point, he offers unsolicited guidance on voice training, comparing vocal resonance to the way dogs bark, with the earnest assurance of someone convinced he is being helpful.

The actors Shinjini Raval and Sunny Hinduja deliver remarkably assured performances. Raval brings a quiet accumulation of frustration to Mugdha, allowing the character’s exhaustion to surface gradually rather than through overt melodrama. Hinduja, meanwhile, captures Vikram’s well-meaning but exasperating optimism with precision, ensuring the character never slips into caricature. Together, their performances give the film its emotional credibility.

Measured and observant, The Gratitude List, directed by Sunny Hinduja and Chandan Anand,  offers a sharp critique of what is often described as toxic positivity. Its insight lies in showing how the insistence on optimism can sometimes drown out the quieter but more necessary act of listening. The film suggests that gratitude cannot be manufactured through exercises if in a basic architecture of a relationship, where patience, empathy and attention remain absent. In the end, it reminds us that the most meaningful form of support may simply be the willingness to listen without trying to fix what has been said.

You can watch The Gratitude List on YouTube.