Letters of Love

Drenched in regret and tragedy, Johan Wickholm’s poignant short film Letters of Love deep dives into the choices we make in life and how these often come back to haunt us. 

The writer-director himself plays the lead character of Peter, a troubled young man we meet early on in the movie but later in his life, reflecting on his past regrets. We then flashback to his early adolescence, where his strong bond with Raymond (Derek Duce) is peppered with turbulence, after Peter gets himself more deeply involved with drugs. The ne’er-do-wells that Peter becomes embroiled with lead him on a catastrophic course for calamity, and it’s only his volatile yet emotional relationship with Ray that could possibly save him. 

Presented as a proof of concept for a feature film, Letters of Love has a variety of strong elements going for it. The central characters are intriguing, and the conflict in their relationship creates a palpable tension for the audience to connect with. Viewers may also sense an aesthetic akin to classic crime dramas and gangster flicks of the 60s and 70s, with the use of European locations and costumes. A section of the film told without dialogue, seeing Peter engaging in the nefarious activities of drug-dealing was certainly Godfather-adjacent.

At times, the performances spill into melodrama as the deeply rooted and intense feelings between Peter and Ray attempt to be communicated on screen. Perhaps a less-is-more approach would have helped display this better, and certainly eschewing the amateur punching for something more visceral would be commended. Emotional outbursts aside, however, Wickholm and Duce make for a compelling on-screen duo, and a longer version of this story would help develop their relationship even further for the audience. 

There is a brooding intensity to Letters of Love as a short film. From the opening, Peter feels like a DiCaprio-esque “stoically grieving” protagonist, coolly smoking a cigarette against the beautiful rural backdrop in the opening moments of the film, before we submit to the violent entanglement that follows. 

Crime and narcotics stories are ten-a-penny, and Letters of Love is certainly not penning anything unique here. Peter’s downfall is familiar cinematic territory, and the themes of regret, loss, longing and addiction have been tackled by huge numbers of filmmakers. However, Wickholm has created a potentially rich and abundant landscape to develop this idea further, hopefully capitalising on the tender central relationship, which is the main strength of the 20-minute version we have currently, and taking the story into charters unknown.