I saw this short before a main feature at The Coolidge Corner Movie House in Brookline, MA and was completely unprepared for what I saw. It's a surreal story involving a teenage boy coming to pick up his date and having to wait with her father while she finishes getting ready. This very surreal, yet good natured film is like the flip side to "Eraserhead"-an outward manifestation of the protagonist's inner anxiety. Only instead of bleak and dark, the situations are absurd and benign (the film is well lit in warm sunny tones, which add to the otherworldliness of the events). The parents of his date are more than a little bit strange, yet well intentioned and genuinely friendly towards the boy-and completely oblivious to the non sequiturs and general weirdness that abounds. No sense of malice, just a series of random events, surreal set pieces, and one very unsettled boy. I really enjoyed this short film and feel fortunate to have seen it on the big screen. If you get a chance to catch it, do so-it is as unique a film going experience as one is likely to see and a genuine pleasure.
Review of Darling Darling
