-Written by John Cajio.
2024 HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
Will I See You Again? is an independent short film that does not suck. There is a lot packed into a short time frame with this short from Director and Co-Writer Michael Perez-Lindsey. Most of it works very well, with a pair of strong leads (Hosea Chanchez and Nick Wechsler). I found myself irritated repeatedly by one recurring factor during the film’s major scene.
Max Palmer (Chanchez) and Paul Jensen (Wechsler) are college teammates that are forced to reunite twenty years later when their mutual friend passes away. Their friend leaves them an inheritance, but they must play something of a game in order to claim it: ask each other a series of questions while attached to a polygraph machine. Any detected deception voids the inheritance.
The film explores the nature of hypocritical choices, the swath of emotional devastation left in the aftermath of those choices, the motivations behind those choices, the nature of reconciliation, and whether reconciliation is possible in the face of such strong emotional damage.
Chanchez and Wechsler both acquit themselves extremely well in their roles here. Chanchez deftly handles Max’s emotional baggage as he is confronted by Wechsler’s Jensen. For his part, Wechsler adroitly manages Jensen’s pained anger and frustration, usually keeping it tightly under wraps, except for the occasional outburst. The tension in the room in their first mutual appearance is thick, palpable, and relentless. Both actors carry this tension extraordinarily well throughout Will I See You Again?.
The cinematography, music, and background acting all serves (or is meant to serve) either the drama between Max and Paul, or helps to provide some key background information. Generally, I found that these elements worked well. I found the music (Cody Westheimer), in particular, simple but highly effective at its role in this film.
My chief complaint comes at the height of Will I See You Again?, when Max and Paul are participating in this final “game” devised by their deceased friend. Each is strapped to a separate polygraph machine managed by a different woman. As the two men answer each other’s questions, the machine administrator verbally calls out the validity of the response in the same rote manner each time. I found it quickly irritating. It unnecessarily distracted me from the drama and the revelations unfolding between Max and Paul. Showing us—instead of telling us—the validity of the response in some manner would have clued the viewer in without disrupting the drama between the two men.
The script by Perez-Lindsey and Rhett Lindsey is a predictable affair. I correctly foresaw most of the revelatory moments before they occurred. But that’s not automatically a bad thing in my opinion. For me, it all depends on how these eye-opening moments are handled, and in Will I See You Again? they are, by and largely, handled well by the cast and crew.
Directed by Michael Perez-Lindsey.
Written by Michael Perez-Lindsey & Rhett Lindsey.
Starring Hosea Chanchez, Nick Wechsler, etc.
7/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE (IT DOES NOT SUCK)
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