A struggling actor suffering from an ear infection takes his pain out on the world. “Ear Ache” is an uncomfortably engrossing dark comedy directed by Alex Kavutskiy carried by a potent, on-the-edge performance from DeMorge Brown. Twice a year, Frederik Beltran can have a surgery on his ear that temporarily improves his condition, but the unbearable pain soon returns. While he tries to make headway in the acting game — auditions he’s not right for, table reads for questionable projects — he’s forced to work a side job as a barista where he regularly battles with his boss, and a second side gig delivering food to customers who often cancel their order before he arrives. This just begins to describe his daily agony, and by the time his precarious living situation worsens, it seems he could go over the edge at any moment. Enlivened by a tense score, Kavutskiy delivers a shrewd psychological portrait of a miserable man, somehow managing to keep it funny and high-energy throughout.

Writer, Director Alex Kavutskiy. Director of Photography Jay Carey. Production Design Ester Song Kim. Editor Alex Mechanik. Score: Jason Martin Castillo. Cast: DeMorge Brown, Shelby Steel, Bruce Bundy, Celeste Den, Yonatan Zeray, Elisha Yaffe, Christina Catherine Martinez.