This Closeness
In Philadelphia for a high school reunion, a couple (including writer/director Kit Zauhar) opts to stay at a shared-space apartment only for their relationship to fracture almost in real time, not least of which thanks to their incredibly strange host.
Writer/Director/Actor Kit Zauhar and Actor Ian Edlund scheduled to attend.
When Tessa and her boyfriend Ben opt to stay at a shared-space apartment during his high school reunion, the short-term roommate they find waiting for them, Adam, appears to be some sort of recluse, incel type. What's already a rocky relationship only strains further with the addition of their new acquaintance, who would presumably just like to be left alone but is instead thrust into their neggy dynamic. In her sophomore feature, writer-director Kit Zauhar manages to accomplish so much emotional endurance within the constraints of a deeply microbudget indie. What the film may lack in on-camera maximalism, it makes up for in script and auditory storytelling. She utilizes sound as a major motif, whether it's tension inducing fighting words, moans heard between paper-thin walls, or a demonstration of the calming nature of ASMR. As she did in her 2021 feature Actual People, Zauhar also stars and proves she has the chops to support her multiple hyphens, enlists Zane Pais ("Modern Love," Margot at the Wedding) as Tessa's obnoxious boyfriend, and Stanwood, Washington's own Ian Edlund as the weirdo Tessa can't help but be drawn to despite his oddness. This is why you get a hotel.
- Director: Kit Zauhar
- Principal Cast: Kit Zauhar, Zane Pais, Ian Edlund, Jesse Pinnick
- Country: USA
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 88 min.
- Producer: Ani Schroeter
- Screenplay: Kit Zauhar
- Cinematographers: Kayla Hoff
- Editors: Brian Kinnes
- Filmography: Actual People (2021)
- Language: English