In today’s digital world, love has no bounds when it comes to the efficiency and accessibility of online dating apps to find their one true love. ‘Andrew Ginger/Likes Dogs’, directed by Amber Rose McNeill, created this short film about a “modern fable about the delirium and disillusionment that can accompany dating in the digital age.”.
Sounds like a love story gone wrong right? It’s an online dating story turned into a nightmare for the main character Amile (Travis Grossi). The short film starts off in Amile sitting in an office job, looking bored out of his mind doing work. We cut to see him perk up whenever he receives a message from a guy who he met online named Andrew (Brent Roberts). It appears they have been chatting together over text for a while, but have never met each other in person.
The messages we see show Andrew is clearly doting on Amile, and Amile has been waiting on Andrew to ask him to finally meet. When Andrew finally asks to meet Amile in person, Amile was very excited that it finally going to happen. Amile’s character pretty much shows how he has been living a dull life and this was his opportunity to finally find someone who could add some zest to his life.
So where is the horror part of the story? They finally meet, and every thing seems to go very well on their first night together. Turns out, Amile only knows the Andrew through the text messages. What he did not know is that Andrew has a sadistic jealousy side that he’s never seen before. Unfortunately, Amile is caught in a scary situation, which gives a stark reminder about the safety concerns with online dating.
I have spoken with friends who have some positive and negative experiences from using dating apps. Some actually have had success with finding their true love and marrying their other half. Others found themselves meeting the person and finding out their true intentions, such as one-night stands, hookups, or even scams. The dangers of online dating are prevalent, which is why it is very important for those who use it to do their research and educate themselves on how to safely use online dating apps. This short film does a good job for viewers to learn not to be like Amile who just falls head over heels on a guy who he only talked to by text.
The performances between Amile and Andrew compliment each other very well. Both the bedroom scenes and the horror scene dialogues were tight and they played off each other’s reactions giving a natural conversation feel when watching the two interact. Andrew’s sadistic side was pretty convincing and caught off-guard from the nice loving character he was playing when he was introduced. Amile very effectively came off as a lost soul with a lot of naivety in his character and his ideal pursuits for a perfect lover.
The cinematography shots are mainly shot medium wide. Everything they needed on frame is there as the main focus is on the two main characters’ dialogue and actions. The camera work took a minimalistic approach which works very well for this particular story. The lighting used for each scene was able to showcase the bright but dull workplace all the way to the dimly light living room for the final dark scene. Just don’t expect much blood and gore, as the horror comes mainly from the dialogue.
Use of background sound effects are well balanced and not overly distracting to the scenes shot in the short film. Music choices like “Silent Night” in the boring office scene and “Joy to the World” in the rolling credits was ironic to the plot, much like how online dating is to the disillusionment to Amile.
Overall, director Amber Rose McNeill and her crew have done a great job putting this short film together. The story and dialogues are easy to understand around the theme of online dating horror. There is no doubt that this will be selected in future film festivals as a horror genre contender, as this short film may turn some viewers away from online dating after watching this one.