owenflaherty

I was lucky enough to see this film while working at the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC. While, admittedly, I initially went in purely based on my curiosity surrounding the title, I quickly found myself engaged. Just from the brief opening title sequence, I could tell this would be right up my alley, and ended up not being disappointed.

Without giving away too much, the story deals with topics of prolonging strained relationships in a way that only someone who has actually experienced that could convey. As a result, it avoids the over-dramatization that would be found in a bigger studio production, and instead comes off as realistic, and extremely relatable.

It also acts as a love-letter to cult cinema, and the VHS era, and is a joy to watch for all of the little nuggets and references, but manages to appeal to the niche without alienating viewers that may not be as familiar with that subject. This is complimented by interesting and unique stylistic choices, both through camerawork, and post-production (ex. the use of VCR rewind/fast-forward functions in flashback sequences)

The story is as good as its core cast, who all give authentic performances, and deliver the dialogue as if they are actually saying it. This makes them seem less like characters, and more like real people, which reinforces the repeatability of the subject matter.

All-in-all, an extremely worthwhile, and thought-provoking watch, that I found myself thinking about weeks after the festival, and am glad I stumbled upon. Happy to have taken the opportunity to go to the viewing, and would definitely recommend that others see, if given the chance.