Desires and Delusions

An early 19th century woman hopes to find her perfect spouse by using an unconventional matchmaking service.

Georgiana (Meaden) is a wealthy young woman, living in Regency England and she wants to find a partner. She decides to use the services of a business that utilises her criteria in order to gather information and place small, hand-sized portraits of men who fit her criteria inside a small chest, along with written information about each potential husband. The chest is delivered to her large mansion, as she is having a picnic in her garden, along with her friends Clara (Paterson) and Amelia (Fry). Excited, she proceeds to look through the portraits, hoping to find that special man. Will her wish come true?

This period comedy focuses on the idea of someone attempting to find a partner by looking at a picture of their physical appearance and by reading limited information about them, only to discover that meeting them in person can be quite different. Basically, the first half of this short film consists of the three friends sitting together around the picnic and going through the details of the men. The second half is about Georgiana meeting the one she chose and getting to know him. There are some rather amusing moments that include the three women trying to analyse each person, one of which seems to be after her wealth and another states that he is married.

All protagonists deliver strong performances and are convincing as people living in Regency England. Georgiana is the main character, one who is determined to find a partner and appears a bit naive when it comes to making decisions. Clara comes across as the most cheerful one of the trio and she supports her friend's dream of finding a husband via a matchmaking service, while Amelia is more reasonable and disapproves of Georgina's method of finding a man. Stokes steals the show with his entertaining performance as an awkward and sensitive individual.

Regarding the mise-en-scene, the furniture looks great and huge commendations go to the costumes, which are the work of the director and Anita Fry. A lot of praise also goes to the music by Dan Whitlock, which matches the atmosphere.

This short is an entertaining experience with well-written dialogue and interesting characters. The plot revolves around the idea of finding romance and points out the idea that one should not judge a book by its cover.