Film Journal 2024: Footnotes
Directed by Chris Leary
Low budget indie that makes decent use of its script and its performances. You can tell the film wants to dig deep, to explore the nuances behind the standard romantic drama beats. It doesn’t fully realize its potential on that front, trading a drive for clarity and real thematic punch for getting lost in some of that nuance instead. But what makes the film worthwhile is that desire not to simply stay on the surface.
There are certain subtleties to the way the central relationship develops, following two single neighbors struggling with the recent lockdown during the pandemic as they randomly choose to become each others safe person, bridging the functional distance and creating a cohabiting space. These subtleties ebb and flow through a relationship that is largely undefined. The more time goes on the more you can feel that inevitable emerging crisis that demands some sort of defintion. The question hanging in the balance is, can they find a shared defintion.
It’s a very conversational film that leans into the chemistry of its leads, which is definitely there. The film is at it’s best when it’s just sitting with them in these moments, allowing us to search for those subtleties and nuances that naturally emerge from the conversational flow. When it does need to move the story forward on its own, using a mix of editing choices and visual moments, it feels slightly less confident. However, the groundwork it lays allows it to stay afloat and to utilize its final concluding moments in service of that developing tension.
Not bad for a small and unassuming debut.
The Stories of my Life 