I’ve written at length about how much I don’t like the current Hollywood ecosystem. An excess of blockbusters has been replaced by an excess of “event” films. Lost in all this is a small, intimate film. Studios are starting to make such commitments publicly.
Film directors like Josh Cox. his latest movie, far away from the water, The film is a five-minute short that explores tenderness, desire, and anxiety between two young men. Like all good short films, it shows a deft ability to juggle a lot in a short running time.
Cox loves placing characters against parallel backgrounds. Whether it’s a woman-loving female couple enjoying time together in a bustling city, or a young queer person missing someone in the countryside. This setting boldly expresses the themes of his stories. But he prefers to set his characters in nature and let their emotional interiors collide and mesh with their environment.
far away from water There is no difference. Two young men (we don’t know their names), played by Lucas Nealon and Jarrid Dominguez, frolic on the beach. The sky is a romantic yet melancholy gray. like dino on the beach or Brooklyn summer dayCox sees a moment. Although these moments are smaller, they are no less powerful, and in some cases even more powerful.
As usual, Cox pulls a John Carpenter to do whatever he wants. He is a one-man studio. He created a breathtaking look in just a second. Young people wrestle, laugh, kiss, and love each other. They then urinate and go their separate ways, with one of them asking if this means anything.
The clouds around them darken as the encounter deepens, symbolizing impending desire rather than impending doom. However, in the end it looks like this dino on the beachthe two men wonder if there’s more to what happened than just the act, if there’s still fear of the answer written on the other’s face.
Cox opens the short story with two crabs walking along the beach, washed away by the tide. Precious moments pass away with time. But unlike many of Cox’s films, there’s a timelessness here, a kind of dreamscape. Consider relevance to other work. It feels like it was drawn from personal experience, or perhaps just a feeling he once had.
His short films often feel like postcards inspired by Roger Vadim. His camera and editing capture the flash-like moments when you remember something. But underlying it all is a longing and a quiet sense of loss, and I don’t mean sadness, but a loss of direction, a young person’s aimlessness and desire for connection, not just touch.
far away from water It’s similar to Cox’s other films, while also embracing something a little more ambiguous. The ending feels like it has potential. It’s as if perhaps a short story could grow into a full-length feature. If so, we can’t wait.
Image courtesy of Americana Pictures
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