Love Machine
All Films • Comedy, Short Films, 05-Jan-2023
An anniversary gift leads two young lovers into a black hole of misunderstanding. “Love Machine,” directed by Michael Rees, is a squirm-inducing dark comedy about the delusions and insensitivities of a dysfunctional couple. What at first appears to be a straightforward relationship study soon devolves into a brutally awkward gift exchange, absurd, deranged, uproariously funny. Sure, he brings her flowers and she pretends to eat them. But we’re still not prepared for her response to receiving a thoughtful and sentimental present about their first year together. The spotlight here is on the actress, Veronika Slowikowska, who has quickly established herself as one of the premier goofballs in the current scene. Her highly expressive mode of comedy registers in a signature mish-mash of unfinished sentences, silly voices, fake laughs, and wild gesticulation. Her funniest move however is when she suddenly snaps back into a straight character as if her insane behavior made complete sense. Rees smartly allows her to run free and the film is a spectacle of cringe. We are thrilled to premiere “Love Machine” as a NoBudge Original. -KA. Director: Michael Rees. Starring Veronika Slowikowska & Kyle Chase. Music by Dan Reeder. Prod Sound: Leigh Murray. Sound Mix: Zach Kochuyt.
Up Next in All Films
-
Beneath the Grass
Living in a car with his fugitive mom, a young boy yearns for a normal family life. “Beneath the Grass,” directed by Sam Friedman and William Bermudez, is an artful drama carried by a terrifically natural lead performance from Joshua Garcia. With his frantic mother clawing to keep it together, Le...
-
Death Valley
On New Year's Eve 2080, a new age radiologist travels from outer space to Earth to practice some desert yoga. Grace Sloan directs “Death Valley,” a scrappy sci-fi oddity built with charmingly hand-crafted sets and analog VFX. Floating through space in a one-person capsule, Zadie video chats with ...
-
how can i be present when photographs...
While pondering the need to endlessly capture her life in photos and videos, a filmmaker attempts to be present in the moment. Shereen Lani Younes directs “how can i be present when photographs exist,” a self-reflective video essay narrated with stream-of-consciousness musings over a smorgasborg ...
