Written, edited and directed by Keith Macri, while at varying degrees of turning points in their lives three different strangers’ lives intersect with one another and unknowingly impact each other forever. Is it a coincidence or part of a bigger plan by a higher power? Starring: Kat Evans, Ev Durán and Amanda Rodriguez.
It would be an impossible task to try and put a number to the amount of people that have wondered whether there’s some grand plan for their life, believer or not but it is a fascinating never-ending discussion that this film takes a bite out of. Opening on a version of God, dolling out the potential futures for new-born babies, in a strikingly white setting which feels like the heaven version of an office meeting where your manager makes all final decisions. It would have been so easy to turn the creation of that scene into a giant parody and push too hard on the comedy but thankfully, Macri went in a different direction and brings the humour through more casually. The comedy throughout is solid, it’s not a constant barrage of jokes or one-liners but it’s consistent from start to finish, it’s funny and down to earth, brought naturally out of the story they’re telling.
A big note that the film hits is the interesting ways that peoples’ lives can intersect, whether it’s bumping into someone on the street, or them calling into a sex line. The great thing is that the film tackles it in a smooth fashion, there’s no jarring move from one person to the next, they all blend together to make one larger story, instead of various little ones shoved together. This is certainly helped by the actors’ performances, all three of them feel incredibly natural, particularly Evans who’s featured most prominently in the trio’s story. Evan’s portrayal of Lisa’s sarcasm, apathy and classic disillusionment is incredibly relatable and she makes a great link between the three of them, helping that smooth transition.
Choosing to use black and white can be an unnecessary decision, frequently fallen for in short film but Macri uses it sparingly and with purpose, his representation of mixing past and present works well. The writing touches upon a few different notes, one of how much easier people can find it to have a frank and honest conversation with the addition of anonymity and the very believable struggle of people holding onto their faith in increasingly trying times. It does so in a way that’s relatively simple, it has an awareness of the limited time it has available to discuss such in-depth issues but it’s effective and the dialogue feels sincere which was key to keeping it grounded.
Where We Fit has a nice blend of satire and drama, and doesn’t lean too heavily on either to make most use of its brief 14-minutes, creating something that’s funny and entertaining. It doesn’t get lost in a God complex, it briefly visits the heavens but keeps its feet firmly rooted on the ground, so that despite its higher calling influenced story, it’s natural and relatable. These three individual’s stories are blended smoothly to perk up your curiosity at how easily and unexpectedly our lives can intersect and the effects that a single interaction can have.
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