-Written by Kyle Bain.
2025 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
Clev just proposed to Megh in the drive thru at McDonald’s, and Joey’s just thrilled to be there. Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together follows the ensuing conversation among the three of them. Truths are told, hearts are broken, and rewards are earned.
Filmed entirely using a single, extreme long, aerial shot, Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together sort of separates us from the action–and the sound development is what ultimately reels us in and allows us access to the series of strange conversations that ensue throughout the course of the film. I’d like to first address the cinematography, as it plays a pivotal role in allowing Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together to remain a comedy and not devolve into something too dramatic. Drama is fine, but the intent behind this film is to create something almost silly, and keeping viewers from ever seeing characters’ faces we are able to keep ourselves disconnected from them as people, only hearing the conversations and being allowed to absorb the comedy rather than the drama.
I mentioned that keeping us far from the action allows us to appreciate the comedy present in Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together rather than becoming too attached to the characters. Emotion is such a small part of this short film, and I appreciate the fact that Writer-Director Brad Roelandt chooses to avoid emotion through the majority of his film, and he allows the comedy, the most prominent and effective part of his project, to shine through.
That is until the final moments, however. As the story effectively comes to a close, Joey (Joey Gallimore) picks up the phone and makes a call–and in that moment emotion becomes the most important aspect of the film. In terms of proximity, we are still far from him, but it’s clear in the tone of his voice that his encounter(s) with Meg and Clev meant something to him, that it has somehow made his day better. Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together is a film that sort of sidelines emotion throughout its majority, but the second that Roelandt decides to include emotion, it works brilliantly.
Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together is certainly a silly film, with a relatively laughable concept. However, Roelandt is masterful in his craft, ensuring that each piece of this delicate puzzle fits perfectly into place. By the conclusion, I felt Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together tugging at my heartstrings, after laughing consistently throughout the rest of the film. Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald’s Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together is effectively straight to the point, but, again, the beauty in those aforementioned technical aspects propel the film toward success, and provide depth to a film that could have easily been void of it.
Written & Directed by Brad Roelandt.
Starring Joey Gallimore, Meghan Sullivan, & Cleveen Dominquez.
8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
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