With 40+ categories of films at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival, deciding on what to watch can be a hard task. The category “A Touch of Romance” was a must for me. Though the films are not necessarily romantic, they do examine the various aspects of different types of relationships at different points in their respective journeys. From first dates to years together and strangers to life-long friends, there’s much to unpack as you go from story to story. To give you a taste, here are a few from the group that I enjoyed.
Love, Sick
Diego (Keean Sabbah) and Layla (Kendra McNulty) are a couple in love and not in the best of health. Diego’s skin is covered in bruises while Layla has a deep cough and trouble breathing. After being triaged, they see the doctor together and learn they have a rare genetic disorder that makes them allergic to each other. The shock of this diagnosis upsets them both as the doctor explains the only cure for their physical symptoms is to separate forever. If they don’t, they could potentially destroy one another.
Love, Sick is a brilliant look at a relationship that —underneath it all— is no good and maybe never was. In flashbacks of the couple’s relationship, you can see the beginning of bruises on Diego, indicating that there were warning signs early on. After having some time to process what they’ve heard, Layla asks Diego for some space, which he passionately refuses because of “love”. The doctor’s words — “What you feel in the moment is not necessarily reflective of what’s going on beneath the surface,” — hit her differently. She’s hurting him and he’s suffocating her. As they embrace and the scene fades, you can see in Layla’s eyes that love may not be a good enough reason to continue to be sick as her breathing intensifies.
Unicorn
Charles Gould serves as writer and star of this comedic short. Larry (Patrick Woodall) and Bella (Briana Baker) are a couple looking to add a third to their relationship. But, not anyone will work. They’re looking for a unicorn. Defined in the film as “a bisexual person who agrees to join a couple without any threat of infidelity or emotional burden”, Charles (Gould) is that unicorn. Upon first meeting, the three exchange small talk before heading to the bedroom. Just as things start to get hot, Charles is tied to the bed and then abandoned. Unsure of what is going on, he walks around the house looking for Larry and Bella before being knocked out.
When Charles wakes up, he finds himself tied up again. This time, however, he learns that his purpose as a unicorn is to serve as a sacrifice to a sex demon. Larry and Bella’s relationship has problems and their solution is to conjure a sex demon to fix them. In a plea for his life, Charles uses the safe word and scolds the couple for thinking that bringing someone else into their relationship was going to fix it. Even though the scene is funny, the point being made is sobering. When your relationship is not right, bringing in someone else won’t make it better and you can end up damaging someone else. Since the sex demon respects safe words, the unicorn lives and leaves with a lovely charcuterie board for the trouble.
Not the 80s
In this German short from Marleen Valien, we meet Lucy (Deniz Orta) and Anton (Merlin Rose), neighbors who have an obvious crush on each other. Lucy purposely orders packages that are left at Anton’s apartment so that he can bring them to her. One day, after exchanging notes, they finally decide to meet for dinner. Both Lucy and Anton are a little nervous, but dinner seems to be going well. In an impulsive move, Lucy leans over the table and gives Anton a kiss. Realizing that this could be something, Anton shares the truth about himself with Lucy — he’s HIV positive.
While watching Not the 80s, you can instantly appreciate Anton’s candid disclosure. His vulnerability at that moment is admirable. Noticing the change in Lucy’s behavior, he continues to educate her on his diagnosis, including the treatment that has greatly reduced the risk of transfer. Lucy’s response, however, is indicative of someone who hasn’t learned anything new about HIV since 1985. She’s now questioning her choice to kiss him and the date continues to go south. Regret overtakes them both and Anton leaves in a hurry. Wishing she would have followed him out of the restaurant, Lucy takes some time to process, not only what she’s heard, but her reaction to it and comes to the conclusion that the only risk worth considering is the risk of love.
You can experience these and other great films on the HollyShorts official streaming app, Bitpix TV until August 28.
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