A woman and man sit alone in their respective homes at night; he opens a chat window with her via what I assume is Facebook (not a big user) and they make small talk. At the same time we see the same interaction playing out at the party where they met.
Narratively I'm not sure about the structure of this short film – the online and party scenes mostly seems to be different versions of one another playing out in two spaces, but then the opening point for the online conversation is that they met at a party. This suggests the party that we see is actually this party, which of course it isn't or else the repeated conversation some time later would not make sense. This little quibble to one side, the film makes a simple point but visualises it really well. The two characters have sort of flirty "getting to know you" chat through the film and, by contrasting the same chat in a computer window, or in real life, we are able to see the reality of both, and appreciate what is missing from one. The real life situation is perhaps a bit exaggerated in its easy chemistry and charm (or maybe I just struggle to hit it off with people on first meeting them), but the point is made – we see the reaction, the interaction, and the ability for something more than just words to happen. By contrast we see a very real, distracted situation on the computer, where the chat is quite hollow and with no connection or impression made. The woman is convincing in her reaction, while the man is not so good (and I probably didn't need the toilet roll next to the computer all the time – that felt unnecessary as a visual prop).
The film plays out without audible dialogue, which I liked, but unfortunately what replaces it is music which seems overdone and is distracting by what it is doing throughout. Otherwise though, it is nicely made, and the two performances are convincing – particularly in the dimly lit solitude of their respective computers. It may be a simple and common moral, but it is a valid one that illustrates its point here quite effectively.
