Nicely engaging in its socially awkward tension

Based on a real event that happened to the lead actor here, this film sees a small house party suddenly realise that they have an intruder in their midst. The result is a short film which has a nicely awkward sense of tension to it - not "we'll all be murdered" but the uniquely painful moment of social anxiety that comes from confrontation. In this case the intruder Rachel had been humoured due to not wanting to make a scene, which itself is a little cringe-inducing; however as it becomes clear, the film gets the mix of the tense and the cringe just right, and it is nicely unnerving.

It is not an amazing tale in terms of what happens, not is it hilarious or thrilling, but it is oddly natural throughout. The reality of the scene comes across well, and it makes it feel all the more awkward even for the viewer. John Early in particular does well to capture this - albeit I was distracted by how similar so many of his characters seem to be in terms of his delivery and range. Berlant is great in the titular character as she does not once break out of it or let any of the tone affect what she is doing - which adds to the tension from her as she is totally disconnected from the politeness around her.

Overall a polishing little short that does a good job of selling the social awkwardness and tension of the moment, and doing so with a very natural feeling delivery.

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