Swiped

The new short film by Daniel Florio, Swiped is very much a comedy told in two distinctive parts – each with its own style of heightened comedic tone. In the first, we witness a girls’ night transpiring with all its amusing social politics, one-upmanship and general awkwardness of a gathering of old friends. It’s an increasingly hilarious game of Whose life is better and Who has the biggest news to share, with the escalation of “new job” to “I’m pregnant” serving as some of the short’s funniest moments. The second half takes a turn into the crime genre with a development so unexpected, ridiculous yet spectatorially stimulating that you can’t help but admire the audacity of Florio’s screenplay. This latter section is more focussed on our protagonist’s boyfriend whom she’s been showing off during her girls’ night via social media pics, with the suggestion being that her Italian tinder-match is seemingly the only thing she has to brag about (I should note that characters’ superficial tendencies all play into the purposefully heightened tone of the piece).

Despite the general sense of absurdism present throughout the film, perhaps its most admirable characteristic is that it is utterly relatable. Maybe not the mafia stuff; but the simple idea of exaggerating one’s life so as to impress a group of snobby old acquaintances is such a clear yet potent dramatic weapon that can so easily lead to interesting places. You may argue that it’s a concept that’s been done before, and for the film’s first half, that would be true. However, my retort is twofold: firstly, the execution of this gathering is so snappy and well-performed that there’s nothing to complain about in the watching of it; and secondly, by the time you reach the halfway mark (at around six minutes), you understand that this is someone who wants to experiment with structure – and to effectively do that in an entertaining manner, and without alienating the audience, the filmmaker needs to deliver some conventional laughs and dramatic beats in this opening section.

To touch on the formal for a moment, the cinematography and sound are effective for their simplicity. Our two primary sequences are made up of very direct, central, tripod compositions which tend to place actors within an amusingly detached context – much like a Wes Anderson shot or even a shot from a Coen Brothers movie. The impact of this is subtle, especially since these are never the kinds of shots that deliver the wow-factor. But what’s intelligent about the direction and photography here is the awareness of that kind of stripped-down clarity suiting the form of an absurdist comedy perfectly. Arguably easier to praise is the practical use of lighting as well as the pointedly jazzy, sporadic nature of the music-track – implemented with great intentionality at points to match the playfulness of the filmmaking.

Swiped is a hilarious, inventively structured piece by Daniel Florio. Arguably indulgent, yet makes for a short film with a fresh tone and outrageous conceit. This is punchy work, and certainly entertaining to the casual viewer.