Films that feature dialogue as the main element can be a lot more complex. Because if a film is faultily directed, then it can move quite slowly and put the audience into a deep slumber. But thankfully, the filmmakers behind the New Zealand independent film ‘Sunday’ hit the jackpot and made a beautifully crafted relationship drama that would be the envy of any Hollywood screenwriter.
Michelle Joy Lloyd has entrusted herself with a significant task by announcing that she intends to take the script written by Camille Keenan and Dustin Clare, an in real life and on screen couple, and turn it into a captivating relationship drama that thoroughly engrosses its audience. As an Australian filmmaker, she emerges as one of the most prominent young directors. Each ‘The Secret Life of Us’ episodes possesses enough poignant writing to engage the audience, and so the ‘One Perfect Day’ allows the viewers to take an emotional ride with the Charlie and Eve characters. At the same time, these two characters are much easier and fun to watch. It hardly comes as a surprise that this is the type of film where a male audience will instantly be able to relate to Charlie whereas the female audience will immediately identify with Eve.
Sunday will from time to time be very dialogue driven but fortunately, the film’s screenplay is so tight that it never feels as if it is being overly wordy. The film, very achievably, manages to round about an hour with great suspense and dram between Charlie and eve that any couple could relate to. To it’s credit, the screenplay also manages to stay grounded and realistic and doesn’t morph into that disgusting flowery mess of a romance. The skill of integrating the story of a relationship rebuild amid the backdrop of Christchurch’s reclamation and determination is brilliant use of a screenplay.
Both Dustin Clare and Camille Keenan give outstanding performances that deepen the film’s impact. The real life couple share great onscreen chemistry and also, kudos to Keenan for filming this while pregnant. The limited time frame that they had to shoot the film does not show in their performances, but instead we’re treated to two great performances that prove both these actors need far meatier roles in the future. One can only hope Sunday will be enough to push them off the small screen and onto the big one.
Sunday is the type of film best enjoyed by someone who appreciates intelligent cinema and does not require a barrage of special effects or explosions to remain occupied in the theater. It is an intelligent film, well acted. It is well worthy of acclaim and I wish it goes a long, long way.
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