The Date

Written by: Kris Salvi  |   Directed by: Alessio Cappelletti |  Genre: Drama  |   Length: 9 minutes

“The way they set things up to turn around the ending was great. This reviewer is more than happy to recommend this one.

 I thought for sure this was a romance. A first date leading to something more. This short film is called ‘The Date’ after all. It also starts with a man waiting for a woman in a coffee shop. Why would I think anything else? The tension is captured perfectly as this man sits and plays with whatever is in front of him, and when ‘she’ walks in I swore that I seen him sigh with relief. She wasn’t a troll and seemed very nice. She totally understood how uncomfortable he was and even, in the middle of this short film, offered her physical support. Who cares about the envelope of money passed between the two? Maybe this was a film like ‘Pretty Woman’ or something.
 It just so happens that it was April 1’st when I watched this. What a perfect April fools day joke on me. This short film wasn’t about love or relationships at all. BAM! Gottcha! April fools! The Date is a much darker film and Kris Salvi, and Alessio Cappelletti do a complete 180 with the story before it’s over. I’m not complaining – I actually don’t much care for love stories. But this was great. What a way to end a story.

 Because this film is around 9 minutes there’s only so much I can say without spoiling everything. But the 2 main actors are excellent. The kind of nerdy software engineer, with the Atari shirt, looked and acted ‘exactly’ how I would expect a man to act – wearing an Atari shirt. His date was perfect. To perfect for him it seemed. Another reason for him to be so awkward. These 2 actors did a awesome job of redirecting the story so you ‘think’ one thing, but when the sh*t hits the fan you can go back and see it’s all actually leading somewhere else. There is a third actor but we don’t see much of him.
 I wish I could have found out why the engineer wants this deed accomplished but because this film is so short, you have to pick and choose what to include. But because we know so little, ‘The Date’ also kind of feels like a scene from a larger movie. Only when you overthink things though. The Date was a good short film. The way they set things up to turn around the ending was also great. This reviewer is more than happy to recommend this one. 4 stars.

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