When the camera clicks on, the persona does too. That carefully cultivated image that requires multiple takes, the perfect angle, the right filter. And then you meet someone in real life and you don’t have that luxury. It’s on this precarious foundation that director Francesca Mirabella frames the world of modern relationships. A young man named Cash lives his life through social media. He films himself working out, spouting inspirational messages into his phone in an otherwise empty room, and then the video is sent into the “feed." One night, a woman named Sasha comes over. Things seem to be going pretty well until a remark intended as a casual joke about the virgin-whore dichotomy opens a rift between them, portraying how differently men and women see each other, how little we seem to discuss and reconcile our views. Mirabella gives us a lot to think about. Who’s to blame when the conversation derails? What’s at the root of the miscommunication? How destructive is it that we are locked in virtual worlds where face-to-face discourse rarely enters the frame? Rashad Edwards and Rosa Gilmore give wonderful performances, authentic and nuanced. Cinematographer Jomo Fray — who also shot "Get Out Fast," which we recently featured — plays with intimacy vs distance in compelling ways. It’s a vital short film about our time which calls into question our online personalities, but more importantly our IRL ones.

Written and directed by Francesca Mirabella. Produced by Winter Coleman + Ben Kallam.