Eyelash (2019)

A young lad is totally in love with his girlfriend. He (Elijah Harris) has a compulsive disorder, but she (Ishtar Currie-Wilson) doesn’t care. Indeed, in her own words, it makes her feel far safer when he checks the door has been lock twenty-five times each night. Initially, their affection is in full bloom - full of smiles, tickles and joy. Gradually, though, he notices that she no longer reacts in the same way. Her smile has straightened out, her eyes have lost their glisten. The more he tries to overcompensate the more he drives her away. He has become too much for her, it’s all too intense - and he’s devastated at the thought that someone else now gets the kisses. Though neither actor have any lines here, I thought both really quite effective at both creating a convincing rapport and then, albeit more rapidly, deconstructing it. The accompanying narration from Neil Hilborn’s poem manages to potently augment what we can see with thoughts of what he, especially, is going through as this roller-coaster of emotions is beyond his ability to rationalise or readily contend with. There is a lot to cram into five minutes here, but I think Jesse Lewis Reece has done quite a decent job.