Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: A SAFE DISTANCE [SXSW Film - Austin Texas]
The intention of "A Safe Distance" [Narrative Spotlight] is the idea of the road less traveled. In creating a path of do or don't, director Glora Mercer and Aidan West have created an interesting path of basically four characters who interact mostly by circumstance which alters their idea of how their life turns out. The movie has a bit of a genre bent but without having to lean too heavily on a set piece. Only one scene really takes place outside of the main environment. It is simply done to make the point but the idea of trust is an interesting quagmire. The film begins following Alex (Bethany Brown) with her boyfriend on a camping trip. She ends up lost (i.e. abandoned) for reasons the narrative deems necessary. This leads her to interact with another couple Matt (Cody Kearsley) and Kianna (Tandia Mercedes) who are on their own adventures of sorts. The excitement of this interaction fuels Bethany especially when she hears what they are hiding from. The film is a discussion of gender roles and choice but where no one really knows who to trust.
Mercedes as Kianna is the most intoxicating because there is some mystery brewing with her below the surface that we never quite get to see. Matt as a character makes the most sense once one sees where the basis of his motivation lies. But as always money and betrayal fuels more distrust than not. Alex represents the structure in life while the couple represents something else. But everyone has different ambitions. The storytelling is simple in many ways and yet the emotions are not. Alex herself is caught in a path that she ultimately cannot control. She might necessarily be alright with it but it gets out of control. Her better instincts are not necessarily that and lead her down an alternative path which changes her path completely which is part of the point. In this way, the film does create stakes. The sexual politics of this interaction play in but Mercer wisely makes that just a side part of the discussion. It is more about ambition and the future. "A Safe Distance" talks about the space between people and how it grows bigger and smaller depending on the time of day and while impulse might be of the moment, it is not for the duration. B-
By Tim Wassberg
