Two young adults (Joshua James and Meena Rayann) are falling in love, but their religious backgrounds make for a complicated courtship. He’s Jewish, she’s Muslim, and they fear disapproval by their communities, so they date in secret. They’re being watched by a third person (Scarlett Brookes), however, who has an agenda all her own.
Shekhar Bassi’s No Love Lost is an impressive short film, particularly because it tells its story without spoken dialogue. It’s up to context and performance to express the narrative, and all involved rise to the challenge. Some ambiguity may exist, but it is amazing what the mind will fill in when given the freedom to do so.
It’s a powerful tale, and tragic at the same time. There is a redemptive element to be found, and for all the negativity that can exist within this tale, it works in a galvanizing way for the young couple. The stark realities of the overt hatred that exists in the world allow them to finally come to terms with their own private struggles.
Again, all of this comes through without the need for dialogue or background beyond what you see. This dials in the focus on the power of the performances to express the emotions without speaking. The film only drifts out of this subtle, naturalistic expression when it chooses to reveal one character’s motivations via a fantasy sequence, but even that still adheres to the silent film aesthetic.
In the end, No Love Lost delivers a strong tale in a nontraditional way. The ambiguities serve to allow the audience to project whatever additional thoughts or feelings they may already have on to the film, and that opens up the possibilities of different emotional interpretations. At the same time, there’s enough of an obvious backbone to the piece that the main aim will come through regardless.
This film was submitted for review through our Submission for Review system. If you have a film you’d like us to see, and we aren’t already looking into it on our own, you too can utilize this service.
