-Written by Kyle Bain.
Social media reigns supreme, controlling the perception of the entire world. When a young couple begins to come to the realization that the fabricated pictures of them on social media are just that, fabricated, emotions rise to the surface and they are forced to analyze their relationship going forward. This is a Behind the Scenes look at a modern-day relationship.
The emotions are legitimate, but I’m not sure that they’re conveyed effectively. The dialogue is too direct, not giving the actors enough range to work with. Valentina El Harizi (Writer, Director, and lead actor–Her) doesn’t give herself, or her counterpart Max Johnson (Him), enough to work with, enough informal dialogue. With the use of formal dialogue it becomes challenging as a viewer to appreciate the sentiment behind the film. Behind the Scenes is clearly full of emotion, but I’m not sure that it’s delivered in the best way, and that starts with the script.
In the couple’s apartment is a wall of mirrors. Small mirrors, large mirrors, round, square–an incredible variety. This wall is used over and over again throughout the course of the film in order to convey emotion and to express to viewers where they are in the story of this couple. Behind the Scenes looks to go behind the scenes of the characters’ lives, but it effectively goes behind the scenes of itself–analyzing each aspect of itself as it goes. Intentional or not, Behind the Scenes does, in some ways, take a meta approach to filmmaking.
There’s a lot of meaning behind Behind the Scenes, but I think the film is just a tad too long. It lingers too long on some of the lesser moments, losing me from time to time and making it challenging (just on occasion) for me to get back into the film. Cutting the film by a minute or two would have worked wonders for Behind the Scenes, allowing it to flourish from start to finish. However, some of those drawn out scenes focus heavily on the wall of mirrors, and those moments work beautifully. I don’t feel that these scenes overstay their welcome, and I believe that they work exactly as intended.
Behind the Scenes is an intimate look at what relationships really look like outside of those fabricated social media posts, and the turmoil created as a result of people becoming far too obsessed with social media and what others think of them. I think the film hits the nail on the head, expressing to the world what we all know, but are often afraid to admit. I wish that the dialogue had been doctored a bit, that it felt more real and accessible–even though the emotion was still present. I found the use of the wall of mirrors to be brilliant, and it’s the most effective aspect of Behind the Scenes.
Written & Directed by Valentina El Harizi, Max Johnson, Sophia Abbas, Wail Boukeffous, Elline Krim, etc.
7.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
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