[rating=8.00]
What’s great about festivals like SXSW is how they allow you to experience films that might otherwise be easy to miss. There’s a pointed emphasis on smaller films that give platforms to emerging voices which, in turn, amplify their reach in ways that might not be possible. Yes, there’s a big push of movies holding massive premieres, but that’s never been the bread and butter of SXSW. The bread and butter are films like Pet Names.
Pet Names is an almost incomprehensibly small film that packs a massive emotional wallop. It’s an intimate, heartfelt work of cinematic storytelling that explores the ins and outs of modern love with a unique and masterful eye, creating a captivating character study via the lens of interpersonal drama.
The film follows a young graduate school dropout, Leigh (Meredith Johnston, who also wrote the screenplay) who is overwhelmed by the pressures of her life. She takes care of her sick, and probably dying, mother while trying to figure out her place in the world. Needing a break, she invites her ex-boyfriend Cam (Rene Cruz) on an impromptu camping trip, which soon finds the two ex-lovers reopening old wounds that have gone ignored for two long.
The one-on-one intimacy of Pet Names allows for a stark exploration of modern romance. Its narrative unfolds itself slowly. At first it’s difficult to tell while Leigh and Cam aren’t still together; their chemistry suggests both shared history and continued adoration, and they are unquestionably cute as a couple. But in the white space of their shared dialogue, between the quirky lines of their interactions, there is a distinct aura of unaired grievances that offers us some clues to the heartache that lies beneath their seemingly happy façades.
Their shared pain lays just beneath the surface, and every awkward pause or slight misunderstanding belies the comfort they both project. Johnston and Cruz portray this intricate dance in careful choreography, and the deep emotions that engulf them are soon laid bare. Here, in the middle of nowhere, they can’t escape from each other, and soon must confront their mutual pain.
There’s an almost claustrophobic feeling watching Pet Names, one made all the more real by the 4:3 aspect ratio. The film, and subsequently its characters, are literally boxed in with nowhere to turn for emotional release except towards each other. It’s heartbreaking to watch as they remember why they’re not still together, but that comes with an intense, emotional catharsis that makes it all worthwhile.
Pet Names is a unique and remarkable little film that captures all that is possible with small scale narrative filmmaking. Alternately joyous and devastating, it is, at its heart, a film about the joys of moving on and the weight of emotional baggage. It may be small in its scope, but it’s mighty in its impact, making for an emotionally resonant film you won’t soon forget.
