Diri

A young woman makes a surprise visit to a friend. However, things appear to be different.

Melur (Hay) arrives at the home of a friend that she has not seen in a while. Her friend is Rose (Lee) and she now lives with her partner, Oliver (Yu). Although Melur is welcomed in their household, it is apparent that all is not well, as Melur hears arguing coming from their house when she arrives and she herself seems to be having troubles of her own.

This short drama has a narrative that follows a visit that turns awkward and dramatic. It focuses on a friendship that appears to be broken because of complications that involve relationship issues, personal problems and dishonesty. Melur becomes aware that things are not good between Rose and Oliver and when she enquires about it, Rose claims that all is well. Likewise, when Rose asks Melur about her life, she states the same, which feels unlikely as she repeatedly refuses to answer her phone and she is seen vomiting at the beginning of the film, indicating that she is pregnant. Their worries and negative experiences seem to have affected Melur and Rose to the point where they appear to be changed people now, even strangers to each other.

The film seems to be pointing out that secrets and lack of communication create gaps between people and damage friendships. It is not clear what Melur and Rose's issues are exactly (when the arguing is heard, the voices are muffled), however both of them have worries and do not reveal them to each other and as a result, they are unable to connect anymore.

Radha creates some well-executed long takes and the editing becomes creative during a sequence involving use of jump cuts. Regarding the audio, there is no music and there is a high pitch sound that seems to reveal Melur's troubled state of mind, the noise being the work of sound designer Joe Button.

This is a sad story about two people who clearly used to be close and have drifted apart over time, having reached a point where they do not know each other anymore. Ultimately, the message that the film is trying to communicate appears to be that dishonesty causes people to lose the ones they are not being honest with.