Midlands Review of While You Wait
midlandsmovies • July 18, 2020
While You Wait
Directed by Jonathan Hawes
One Door Films
2020
“An eccentric film buff keeps a young woman company before her date arrives”
The slow ticking of a clock and a selection of retro cameras begins this disturbing new 10-minute film from Jonathan Hawes.
Those two themes, killing time and capturing moments on film, are expanded upon as the short opens on a sofa where two people sit down gingerly. Setting out a bowl of popcorn with obsessive precision, a young man (Danny Patrick) begins a stilted and awkward sofa conversation with an American woman (Charlotte Handley, who also wrote the short).
She is awaiting her date with his brother “Henry” who is running late and the two pass the time with some gentle small talk.
However, their interaction turns increasingly bizarre as he interrogates her about her connections in Los Angeles. Stating his love for photography and films, the two trip their way through a tough chat where the man seems far too eager to please.
The woman explains that she did in fact have a bit part on a TV series, as a hobo, but lambasts the Hollywood “inner circles” which leads to an awkward but funny joke about on-screen nudity.
Their exchange gets stranger as stories are swapped about celebrity spotting and politics as well as some personal questions about her and his brother’s attraction to each other.
Shot in a basic but appropriate style, a few more shots other than 2 mid-shots and one set-upshot would be more visually appealing. The film’s finest aspect though is a well-thought out and naturalistic script. With darkness and dark comedy entwined, the dialogue feels genuine but with a sinister undertone to the proceedings.
Both actors play their roles well too, giving the short a nice contrast between innocence and creepy. And a nod to Psycho sums up their situation. However, unlike Psycho, the short again could use a boost to the visual language with added variation of the shots to give the audience a bit more meaning. There’s no Hitchcockian ‘birds of prey’ here.
While You Wait though is an entertaining watch. Always on the cusp of spiralling out of control, the conversation naturally leads the audience to guess at a number of possible outcomes but ultimately the conclusion kind of plays out as expected.
Ramping up to an alarming ending, the film doesn’t particular surprise narratively but film buffs will enjoy the movie references and the script is a real winner. So do check it out if you fancy a well-written and acted cinema-inspired and unsettling chamber-piece.
Michael Sales
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