Written, directed and published by Archie Waterson, the film follows protagonist Kai – played by Leo Buzac – as he is having a catch-up with one of his friends. The conversation stilts due to Kai’s life appearing to go nowhere, and he looks around to see others seemingly discussing what they have been up to.

After, he is waiting outside texting someone whilst waiting for an Uber. That is when our deuteragonist Ruby – played by Ruby Gudenswager – is introduced, prompting them to try and make small talk. Here, the dialogue really shines, done so via the natural acting on display and the linguistic aspects (e.g – use of fillers | “um”, long abrupt pauses, expletives/swearing). The music is sparse but used in a precise manner.

The humour is endearing – such as the mocking of Bradley cancelling on Ruby to then accept Kai’s invitation, the discussion of marriage – but it knows when to take itself seriously. The camerawork is fantastic. The colour grading is natural and doesn’t feel super stylistic, grounding it in reality.

Something I enjoyed reading was the commentor letterboxxed‘s interpretation that said the following:

“oh my gosh i love this, and idk if i’m interpreting this wrong but i feel like ruby getting out of the car first is like a metaphor for her moving on with life and having some sort of idea of what her future holds while kai is left in the backseat, meaning he feels behind and keeps moving without purpose.

They get along well and have some things in common yet his insecurity and longing for meaning is what drifts them (and everyone else) apart. At the end he is left with much more sadness than when he was at the party because he might’ve felt like he had something wrong with [him], ruby made it seem so easy to just figure it out and he’s just stuck. Wishing the best of success in your filmmaking career!!“

I can completely understand this perception, even if Waterson himself admitted he never considered it in that way. Kai feels incredibly trapped in his own pit of despair, but meeting Ruby promotes the idea of potentially finding purpose in his life. And then you realise he never even asked Ruby her name. Just like what we can assume is most things in his life, he lets opportunity pass him by and almost self-sabotages.

It’s brilliant stuff, and it’s amazing that indie filmmaking can be spotlighted on the YouTube algorithm, clearly showing an incentive for new creative visions.