Unlike most of those rom-coms, Pink Grapefruit works its way inside your head as much as it does your heart.
But if you’re up for the ride you’ll find it a film that has more in common with the work of Robert Altman than any of the so-called romantic comedies out there. It’s a film built around uneasy laughs, steamy encounters and unsettling gazes. The director’s uncanny ability to view the story from all sides is what separates Pink Grapefruit from lesser romantic fare. And it allows Mohan to explore a side of these stories that most films overlook – the effect an actual connection can have on the couple that instigated it. That tactic allows the cast to explore looks and silence as much as action and dialogue. Mohan doubles down on uneasy energy by keeping the film’s atmosphere thick and pacing it to a sultry stillness. They achieve that effect by seizing on the anxious, often frightening energy that goes along with being ‘fixed up’ with someone by your friends. Part of what makes Pink Grapefruit so engrossing is watching Mohan and co-writer Chris Levitus blend that need with their formulaic setup and twist it into an amorous but nervy romantic thriller. One that concisely skewers the near primal need of humans to compare their lives to the people around them. The result is a seductive mix of clumsy courtship, domestic anxiety and eerie erotica. In the film’s 11 minute runtime, the skilled director takes that tried and true formula, adds a dash of romance, sprinkles it with hushed erotic energy and serves it with a side of unabashed voyeurism. You know the recipe – take one happily married couple (Matt Peters and Nora Kirkpatrick), add one mildly neurotic friend (Wendy McColm), then stir in a potential suitor (Nathan Stewart-Jarett) and you’ve got tasty dish of hilariously awkward hijinks.ĭon’t worry, Pink Grapefruit may begin as a formulaic rom-com, but Director Michael Mohan has something else in mind entirely. In truth, the opening moments of Pink Grapefruit look and feel a lot like one of those formulaic films. I know, that sounds like the plot of a dozen or so romantic comedies released in the last decade or so. The Plot: A married couple invite two single friends for a weekend in the California desert. This week, we bring you Michael Mohan’s sensual drama Pink Grapefruit. That’s why every week we’ll take a look at some of the short film world’s best and brightest.
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