On Valentine's Day in Toronto, a young couple's relationship is fragmented by performance. “V-DAY,” directed by Zachary Lacosse, is a slow-burn drama that’s highly observant of a long-distance couple and their awaited encounter to see each other on the February holiday. We meet a young man, in his early 20’s, sitting in the laundromat. It’s not until he’s lying on his bed in a fetal position fiddling from his 3DS to his iPhone where we hear another voice — it’s his girlfriend on a Facetime call. While they apathetically make some plans to meet at High Park, the young man seems mostly aloof. When the two meet the next day, they discuss what’s been going on in their everyday life, mostly just his, and the young man, with some passive-aggressive angst, stresses there’s been a lack of presence in their communication. Afterward, we linger individually with the young woman for a few moments; she seems helplessly defeated by her boyfriend’s lack of awareness. From beginning to end, the camera remains distant and still, but there’s never a loss of momentum thanks to the deliveries and scenes led by Bennett Taylor and Hannah Brennen. Although “V-Day” is different stylistically from Lacosse’s previous short, “My Mirror,” which we featured in 2022, in both, he demonstrates an ability to capture the utterly bleak and mundane. -JM. Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Zachary Lacosse. Cast: Bennett Taylor and Hannah Brennen.