They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. But sometimes, with the passage of time, we can modify our first impression and come to see that they were incorrect. Or perhaps we’re just being deceived. This dilemma is something to keep in mind when watching the brilliant short, Virginia, Forever. There’s a seemingly innocuous line near the beginning of the film that only makes sense once we’ve seen the end. This small detail is just one reason that Virginia, Forever is easily one of the best shorts of the year.
The Film follows Virginia and Addison, two loves-birds who meet, fall in love and get married. The opening scenes are cloyingly sweet. The smiling pair frolic in bed, brush their teeth together, drink from the same milkshake. It’s all been done before, but this time, it’s done in a way that signals quite quickly that something terrible is coming. The music plays an essential role in sweeping the audience up in these tender and trite moments. The couple even put together a time capsule that they plan on opening when they’re old and gray. When they head out to bury the time capsule, no attentive audience member can suspect that this will end well.
And indeed, we’re transported from the lovers’ paradise to a grim present. Now Addison sleeps alone, looks severely depressed and never smiles. We learn that Addison is a nurse and that Virginia has disappeared without a trace. The rest of the film, or most of the rest of the film, focuses on Addison’s gloomy attempts to put her life back together. Neighbours, co-workers and Virginia’s family all try to help out. But there seems to be no consolation for mopey Addison. We eventually discover that Virginia had had an affair with another woman. But Virginia’s sister is convinced that she wouldn’t just run off with another person without telling anyone about it. That’s just not the kind of person she is. So we’re left wondering: how well did these two really know each other? How well do we know them? How well do we know our own partners and how well do we know ourselves and what we are capable of? These are the core questions Virginia, Forever raises.
The film does an excellent job at pulling us in and sets up an irresistible mystery. For the first two thirds or more of the film, we don’t see anything we haven’t seen before. But we feel immediately that we’re in the hands of a highly competent story teller, and that sustains us through to the end. The film is beautifully shot. The cinematography is as good as anything on TV today. The soundtrack as well is top-notch. The real bright spots here, though, are Taylor Carr and Brit Landa, who play Virginia and Addison respectively.
The quality of Virginia, Forever is perhaps not surprising, given that director Daria Rountree is also a seasoned cinematographer, and has numerous credits to her name. The short has already won several awards, including Best LGBT film (in case it wasn’t clear, Addison and Virginia are both women) at the Direct Monthly Online Film Festival, Best Short Live Action Narrative at the prestigious Lift-Off Film Festival, Los Angeles and winner for Best Drama at the Limelight Film Awards. Not surprisingly, the film has also won accolades for cinematography.
One of the most interesting things about this short, apart from the great plot, is the fact, alluded to above, that it is an LGBT film. But this fact is handled in what I believe to be the perfect way for the current era. No specific attention is drawn to the fact that Virginia and Addison are lesbians. The film isn’t about the fact that they’re gay. It’s just there, as a fact, and for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t really matter to the story. Or does it? I found myself wondering, without giving too much of the plot away, if I would have perceived this story differently if the couple had been heterosexual. Are men more likely to do the things that the characters in this story do? Are women? I really don’t know. Which brings me back to my original point: it doesn’t really matter that this is a lesbian couple. The fact that the couple just happens to be two women is, in my opinion, the best strategy for normalizing perceptions of the LBGT community.
By: Darida Rose
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.