Ti Amo, Mr. Nibbles

A young woman struggles to communicate her feelings to her partner.

Prolific filmmaker Govind Chandran teams up again with frequent collaborators to tell a story about expressing emotions in relationships, particularly saying the phrase 'I love you'.

This story concerns two youths, Casey (Cooke) and Mia (Kontu) and a stuff toy named Mr. Nibbles. Mia is Italian and Casey is English and they live together and they are in a romantic relationship. However, Casey has a problem: she does not know how to tell Mia that she loves her. Eventually, one day she believes that she can finally say it to her. Or can she?

The whole narrative takes place inside the protagonist's bedroom, with the two of them having meaningful conversations. The conflict in this short drama consists of Casey's hesitation to announce the major words to her girlfriend and Mia being unwilling to listen. Mia comes across as a cheerful and carefree person and she does not seem to want drama in her life and therefore, she avoids Casey when she attempts to talk about serious things, utilising Mr.Nibbles, a stuff hamster toy as a shield or distraction much to Casey's annoyance.

Now might be a good time to mention that regarding the title, 'ti amo' means 'I love you' in Italian. The screenplay centers on the words 'I love you', exploring their content and value when they are used in romantic relationships. The film pretty much enquires regarding when the time is right to make that statement and whether it is even necessary to do so at all, as being happy together and enjoying each other's company proves that love is present.

As mentioned above, Chandran reunited with several people for this project, one of them being Cooke. Others include director of photography Jamie Laxton, who develops moody cinematography and composer Benjamin Doherty, who creates a beautiful and emotional score.

Perhaps the strongest aspect of this film is examining whether 'I love you' does actually have a real use in romantic relationships. Does it need to be said or are actions enough to 'say' that statement? It is said that actions speak louder than words, nevertheless the answer might depend on a person's perspective.