Social Distance

The two McGees, who play a couple in the movie, so I presume they are together in real life, really see the high stress and tension their characters are under. Vernon Wells pops up in a few scenes, and as always, he brings a ton of gravitas to the small role. Kasey Brown really sells his character’s fall off the wagon; however, he is less convincing during a sober, heartfelt one-on-one. As Jess, Riley makes her slowly deteriorating health as believable as possible.

On the negative side, it takes a while for the plot to pick up steam. The film spends a good chunk of the first 30-minutes just sorting out business PR tactics and pandemic updates. Running about 105 minutes, some ten or so could be cut out without sacrificing the meat of the story. Oddly, Robert Aquato provides a score for Social Distance. Given the style of the movie, it is very strange to have one. It is a fine bit of music, but it does a disservice to the video call presentation.

“…a marvel of editing…”

Finally, there are a few instances where the audience is shown something that seems to be from a character’s point of view. Carol is watching a pastor online, and his video feed is seen. How exactly? The movie is an open video conference of these Dreamscape Cruise Lines employees. Did this religious zealot hack it?

Social Distance is a conspiracy-thriller that delivers in all the important ways. The acting from most of the cast is quite good, and the editing is top-notch. But the movie is a tad too long and is not always consistent with its style. Even still, there are enough good elements to easily make Social Distance a definite recommendation.