Alex's Dream | Comedy Short about Social Anxiety

Alex (Alex Lawther, 'End of The F***ing World) arrives uninvited to a party and after a set of excruciating interactions with other guests (Emma Corrin, Chris New, Simon Manyonda), is forced to recount a memorable dream he has had. A meditation on oneiric experience in cinema, mental health, talking dogs and fishermen.

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Alex's Dream
Directed by Jack Cooper Stimpson
www.jcooperstimpson.com

"A winsomely odd story about social anxiety and the transcendent meaning of dreams, Jack Cooper Stimpson’s debut narrative short Alex’s Dream is a charming comedy with its heart in the right place. Following titular 20-something Alex, as he finds himself overdressed at a private party, he stumbles through a series of slightly surreal situations, always unsure of what to do with himself. The awkward humor of the interactions are perfectly captured by Alex Lawther’s (The End of the F***ing World) pleasantly neurotic lead performance, as we find ourselves strangely immersed in this world of first-time meetings and stunted conversations.

Reluctantly answering his friend Archie’s “call to action” – to help him out with a girl (Emma Corrin, The Crown) – we join our insecure hero as he’s introduced to the other party guests and eventually persuaded to share a personal tale from his subconsciousness. He’s feeling out of his depth, but at least he can always rely on the simple, but profound wisdom of the “talking“ dog he just met…

Alex’s Dream is impressive for many reasons, but one of the first things that stands out in the short is its impressive cast. Lead actor Alex Lawther made a name for himself in the Netflix series The End of the F***ing World and has also appeared in an episode of Black Mirror and films including The Imitation Game and Goodbye Christopher Robin. While fellow party-goers include a room full of on-the-rise British acting talent, most notably Emma Corrin, appearing on-screen two-years before she’d grab headlines as Princess Diana in Series Four of The Crown.

Asked about his involvement in Alex’s Dream and the difference between working on a low-budget short and a TV show, Lawther explains that “there isn’t an awful lot of difference between the mediums”, adding that “sometimes it’s nice to film a whole story in a day — and sometimes it’s nice to spend months with that story.”

In our interview with writer/director Stimpson, the filmmaker admits that it was certainly a bonus to have well-known faces in his short, in terms of getting attention, but he was also keen to point out that the most important aspect is whether each actor is right for the role. Stimpson knew that Lawther had the right sensibility for the character, labelling him a “wonderfully sensitive and precise actor”, before adding that he thinks “he’s so good at balancing the comedy of the film with the wacky kind of dream scape of it.”

There’s a certain “quirkiness” to Alex’s Dream, which Stimpson manages to convey in a way that lends the short a unique sensibility, The framework of the film itself is a familiar story about young people at a party, but the trick is that in-between this classical structure, most situations and interactions feel ever so slightly left of center. As Stimpson admits, the plot “starts off almost formulaic. We [think we] know how this is gonna go. He walks in with his best friend, his best friend wants to talk to a girl, we think that the girl is going to become a big part of the narrative, and they’re going to sort of fall in love” – until things take an unexpected turn.

Alex’s Dream eventually leaves the viewer with more questions than answers but in a good way. It invites us to reflect for ourselves and maybe even think about the last dream we weren’t able to shake, even though it might not be clear what it exactly meant. [Continue the review on shortoftheweek.com]” - S/W Curator Georg Csarmann

Written and Directed by
Jack Cooper Stimpson

Produced by
Giannina Rodriguez Rico and Jack Cooper Stimpson

Executive Produced by
Stefan Allesch Taylor, Henry Rouquairol, Sabian Phippen

Co-Executive Produced by
Charles Kay, Aron Brar, Larry Sullivan

Cast
Alex Lawther - Alex
Emma Corrin - Beth
Chris New - Fisherman
Sam Haygarth - Archie
Simon Manyonda - Lost Man
Camille Ucan - Felicity
Lillie Flynn - Sam
Olivia Popica - Jessie
Harry the dog - Himself

Reproduced on this channel with the permission of the filmmakers.

Видео Alex's Dream | Comedy Short about Social Anxiety канала Short of the Week