A couple on their wedding night find they have issues that have not been dealt with, and airing them on their first night together as man/wife reveals some hurts which will last longer than this one night.
There is much to like about this short film, as it plays very nicely as a two-hander with the two lead actors really doing well with their performances. The film has a slow pace, which allows them the room to do this, but at the same time it seems to contrast with that slow pace by having some fairly large issues jumping out. And they do jump out; perhaps this is honest about how it would come up – but it did feel like a sudden leap for the viewer to go from the perception of a certain lack of cohesion there, to immediately having the whole thing on the table. It does still work but in a film where so much takes its time, and allows the smaller detail to add a lot, it does seem like a lot in the context of everything else.
The performances still make it work though. It is rare that "lack of spark" between cast members is a good thing, but here it is part of the performance and it is done really well. Whether it be in the more obvious moments, or on the edges of other scenes, there is a really satisfying "tension" between the two – the type of thing you can usually see between couple who had a fight on their way to something, or the day before. This delicate edge to their interaction plays pretty well, which is why the bigger material jarred me as much as it did. In the end the film returns to this tension, and they exit the hotel without dialogue, this time giving the viewer space to wonder what the future holds, and how this will be pushed under the surface of their day-to-day lives, but still be a root of so many things in the future. The film does this very well, but as a whole it does have an odd mix of slow pace, but yet also big leaps, which disrupts the flow and involvement somewhat.
There is much to like about this short film, as it plays very nicely as a two-hander with the two lead actors really doing well with their performances. The film has a slow pace, which allows them the room to do this, but at the same time it seems to contrast with that slow pace by having some fairly large issues jumping out. And they do jump out; perhaps this is honest about how it would come up – but it did feel like a sudden leap for the viewer to go from the perception of a certain lack of cohesion there, to immediately having the whole thing on the table. It does still work but in a film where so much takes its time, and allows the smaller detail to add a lot, it does seem like a lot in the context of everything else.
The performances still make it work though. It is rare that "lack of spark" between cast members is a good thing, but here it is part of the performance and it is done really well. Whether it be in the more obvious moments, or on the edges of other scenes, there is a really satisfying "tension" between the two – the type of thing you can usually see between couple who had a fight on their way to something, or the day before. This delicate edge to their interaction plays pretty well, which is why the bigger material jarred me as much as it did. In the end the film returns to this tension, and they exit the hotel without dialogue, this time giving the viewer space to wonder what the future holds, and how this will be pushed under the surface of their day-to-day lives, but still be a root of so many things in the future. The film does this very well, but as a whole it does have an odd mix of slow pace, but yet also big leaps, which disrupts the flow and involvement somewhat.