After spending several months on a humanitarian trip in Uganda, a young man returns home to the isolation of the Covid pandemic in the web series Quarantine Roommate(s). I will be reviewing the first episode only in which writer/director/lead actor Kyle Holbrook gives us almost an artistic video diary as he tries to cope with quarantining himself from the rest of the world.
“After spending several months on a humanitarian trip…a young man returns home to the isolation of the Covid pandemic…”
Episode one is less of a standard narrative as it is a video montage of Holbrook’s feelings of helplessness. He contrasts his life-changing trip to Uganda and feeling part of a community with the desolation of being imprisoned in his apartment. Quickly, the filmmaker’s images take a very dark turn as he starts drinking and obsessing about a woman from his past. Can our protagonist find the resilience to pull himself from the depths of despair?
Quarantine Roommate(s) is essentially an art piece. The series is very low budget, yet Holbrook more than makes up for his lower definition camera with striking effects to piece his clips together. He continuously blurs the lines between the natural and the surreal. Of course, it is hard to judge the entire series solely based on the first episode. But, let’s face it, there is a lot of content about lockdown floating about on the net. If Holbrook maintains this unique visual style throughout the series, I’m definitely interested to see where this adventure goes.
"…continuously blurs the lines between the natural and the surreal."
