It's early spring 2020, and Harrison (Les Mahoney) has decided to ditch his apartment in New York City for a while to do some writing at his house by the lake in the country - and thus when he first hears about the Corona virus, he fails to see the gravity of it, and blames the growing panic about it and the lockdowns that come with it on "the libtards", and he tries to order everyone around remotely, as if nothing has happened, from the people at his company to his lawyer (Lisa London) to the super at his apartment building (Rolando Sanchez), failing to understand why things don't work like before anymore, and why he isn't allowed to return to the city, why the local supermarket has run out of toilet paper, and why he can't even order pizza like he was used to. And the more he feels his power dwindling (without understanding the outside forces causing it), the angrier he gets - and the more annoyed his friends and associates get by his constant calls - so much so that many of them break off contact to the effect he tries to call his former wife (Laura Lee), his estranged daughter (Jillian Olson), and even an old flame (Shea Davies) he hasn't talked to in 20 years - all to very little effect other than him seeing how lonely he is. It's only when he hears that his best friend (Pourya Rahbar) he has of late neglected dies from the very disease he tried to deny that he starts seeing things in a different light - but it might be too late by then ...

Pandemic movies - as in movies shot with a very small cast and crew, and much of the dialogue happening via Zoom and the like - have pretty much became their own genre during the Covid pandemic, and mostly out of necessity of course. a problem with that "genre" was that it soon became too formulaic, too visually dull, and too limited in its possibilities. Alone, while shot during the pandemic and using it as its premise, doesn't fall into the trap that many other movies have, as it refuses to take shortcuts, tries and succeeds to get interesting visuals out of its limited sets, doesn't relie on Zoom calls too much, actually avoids them if not essental for the plot, and on top of this tells an engaging, thoughtful and thought through story that's as relatable as it feels real - also thanks to a strong performance by co-writer/director Les Mahoney of course. Maybe not much of a feel-good movie to be quite honest (which the movie has never set out to be), but it really hits all the right buttons to remain with you for a while.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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