Lance (in a Neck Brace): Short Film Review
There’s one thought that’s impossible to escape when watching this film. How did Lance end up in a neck brace? Lance (in a Neck Brace), is a short film written, directed and edited by Chloé Aktas. The film is about Lance, who after a devastating break-up, listens to instructional cassette tapes on how to heal his broken heart. The tapes, a full collections worth, take Lance through his break-up and what led to it. A lot of questions are answered in this film as it progresses, as Lance goes through his healing process, except the one mentioned above. How did Lance end up in the neck brace? This film is brilliant and keeps you engaged. Aktas doesn’t give the viewer anything but the surface level answers, and that’s exactly what makes this film so great.
From a technical standpoint, the film is fine. There’s nothing about the technical aspects of this film that are supposed to leap out to you or are any new innovation, but cinematographer Chris Amodio shoots the film well. Amodio keeps the camera close to Lance’s face so the viewer is able to see every bit of Lance’s emotions. We are able to see when he clenches his teeth, when his eyes shake and even his breathing pattern. In terms of sound, there’s not much to be spoken about either, as the only speaking is from the instructional tapes and there is no music. In fact, the only other sound in the room is the ticking of a clock we don’t see, but this is a very important piece of the film. With the way that Aktas uses the silence of the room, the clock’s ticking is actually its own form of telling the story because with each tick, we can count how long Lance takes in between each question. The brilliance in this is how the close up shot of Lance’s face, along with the clock ticking, show us how anxious Lance is, while thinking about his relationship and its ending.
What makes this film so intriguing is the premise. It’s simple, but the patience that Aktas has to carry it out is what makes so interesting. The tapes ask Lance a question, which either keeps him on that tape or makes him flip to listen to side B. What’s strange is, side B is often the choice for Lance and it’s the one that always sounds like a sadder situation. For example, the tape tells Lance to stay on side A if there’s a chance he and his ex will get back together or flip to side B if there is no chance at all. Lance continuously answers the B side questions, leading us to believe that it was a horrible break-up. We find out she cheated on him, with someone he knew personally, for over a month(!). As the questions get more painful, Lance takes more time between them and the clock ticks louder. Aktas keeps the viewer engaged and hopeful that Lance’s answers improve, but they never do and it only gets worse. It’s absolutely brilliant and a wonderful storytelling method for a short film.
Lance (in a Neck Brace) is fantastic short film and was a selection at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Chloé Aktas made it well and wrote it even better. Perhaps it doesn’t matter what happened to Lance for him to end up in the neck brace. It could’ve been outside of the break-up, although that may not be likely because the relationship sounds like it ended poorly. These thoughts that linger after the film are what make it such an enjoyable film.
