Living Reality
From the Archives
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Short Films, 27-May-2025
An exploration of the emotional divide between fiction and reality in the American sitcom. Philip Thompson’s “Living Reality” puts the peculiar form of sitcom into perspective when a character shows strange symptoms and signs of longing. The spoof TV-show, also called “Living Reality,” starts and moves as if it were a carbon copy of a 1990’s late night series. There’s eye-rolling riffs and cheesy one-liners, but something appears to be off when a character named Theo, played by Thompson himself, begins to sneeze and cough loudly. Continuing with the flow of the show, the other characters don’t show an interest in the strange behavior. Theo heads home to a mood significantly more grim than the colorful backlot. Laid out on his mattress, he flickers the TV on to a sequence of distorted textures and fleeting moments. The creation of a fake sitcom show is entertaining and a production feat in itself but Thompson goes further by subverting the medium, as he did with his previous short, “I’m at Home,” which we featured in 2023. -JM. Director: Philip Thompson. Producer/Director of Photography: Aidan Cronin. Producer: Desirée Tolchin. Cast: Sam Wallington, Simon Rabatin, Ruby Harvey, Spencer Evett. Production Design: Olivia Acuña. Set Construction: Joe Esposito. Sound Recordist/Designer: Jack Liden.
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