After a rough breakup, Andy (Rory Uphold) is having trouble getting on with her life. When a friend suggests she just go have some casual rebound sex, Andy reluctantly agrees, choosing a friend of hers, Morgan (Ben York Jones), who has long had a crush on her. Unfortunately, the experience starts at awkward and only gets worse from there.
Writer, director and co-star Rory Uphold’s short film, Safety, is a melancholy experience wrapped in the comedy of uncomfortable. At first you’re laughing a bit at the scenario; are these two really going to have sex, when it’s painfully clear that there is no chemistry between them at all? By the end, however, it all turns depressing as the reality dawns that no one is going to get what they really want out of this.
Massive credit is due Rory Uphold and her co-star Ben York Jones, as this is a film where the performances have to be right on for it to work. And they both do their best, breathing nuance, truth and depth into their characters in a way that makes you feel for both of them, at varying parts of the narrative. One minute it seems emotionally tilted one way, and then the next you’re finding yourself feeling more for the other one. It’s not a clear cut “this is a good person, this is a bad person,” it’s the complicated middle. Which is a more accurate portrayal of life.
Safety is a strong short film, and also a heartbreaking one. It’s not common for a film to get you to care so deeply about two very different individuals in such a short amount of time, but this one pulls it off.
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