CINEQUEST REVIEWS: Chris Hansen’s SEVEN SHORT FILMS ABOUT (OUR) MARRIAGE is much more than a happy reminder of love
It’s rare for a romance movie to be anything other than saccharine or jaded. Existing somewhere along the middle of the spectrum seems a near-impossible rope to walk. Neither character can feel short-changed, but need to be fully realized while also being just fictional enough to make the hard drama around them feel distant and love just around the corner. Chris Hansen’s feature film perfectly walks that tight rope and then some. Seven Short Films About (Our) Marriage delves deep into a nuanced and complicated relationship with real and interesting characters while also handling a kind of ‘best hits’ list of dramatic challenges over the course of seven vignettes.
Noah is an up-and-coming artist with big plans and big debt. Meanwhile, his better half Madison sacrificed her own dreams for the convenience of a less than satisfying 9-5. While she grows resentful of her role as the relationship breadwinner, Noah’s doubts escalate as he contemplates his chances of making it big. Complementing these struggles are the inevitable challenges they face as an interracial couple in a very fresh marriage. As these lovers alternate between bickering and making up, their layered history together seems to be the one constant thing in an overwhelming, ever-changing climate.
The rhythm of this movie, using several vignettes, helps layer the performances successfully on top of each other. Stars Drez Ryan and Chynna Walker do an incredible job of carrying this film from beginning to end. Not for a moment do we doubt their relationship and the characters they inhabit. While every actor around them plays well it’s often in context of either lead so, at the end of the day, we’re watching Drez or Chynna talk. They communicate this relationship in little gestures and subtleties in speech. As the characters grow the actors portray that growth. It can be hard to demonstrate any major change in the mid-twenties of your life, still these two nail it.
What works so well for this film is its vignette aesthetic. By pairing down the production to essentially seven scenes it allows the script to shine, the actors to perform, and every department thereafter to simplify and focus on it’s work. Rarely is anything shot outside of a close up and light softly fills their heads or faces and warms up the scene. It can feel extremely shot-reverse shot but only because it’s making the most of it’s best element: the acting. As an exercise in strategic filmmaking Seven Short Films works on an aesthetic AND technical level.
There are cheesy moments, sure, but who among us doesn’t have at least one cheesy life experience? What works so well is this movie gets to have its Hallmark-drama while never shying away from it’s real-world resolutions. It’ saccharine, sure, but still bitter. Make no mistake, this movie will break your heart. Soft guitar plucking underscores the major emotional moments and the actors fold in on each other, but this is still the story of the growth of a relationship. We ease into their life, watching come back together, but slowly realize this movie is a lot more than a happy reminder of love. This film dramatizes the complicated romance in a marriage from the banal to the profound capturing it’s essence and holding our attention from beginning to end.
