It took me a while to decide how I felt about “Good Girl,” a horror-romance short film from director Wesley Alley. Upon first watching it, I was intrigued but confused, and thought about it long after my initial viewing. And the more I think about it, the more I am led to believe that that was the intention: to leave a lasting impression (whether good or bad), to stick with you, to make you think about it for a long time.
“Good Girl” follows the story of Charles and Elizabeth, a young, attractive couple celebrating their 10th anniversary together, whose relationship is clearly problematic and unsettling from the very beginning–from facing each other at both ends of a long dinner table, to Charles’s gradually developing abusive, if not sadistic, behavior towards his wife. Once the clock strikes midnight, what is supposed to be a romantic evening soon turns into a wide-awake nightmare.
The beautiful cinematography and lighting makes the film feel like a Bram Stoker-like romance fantasy, a clear augmentation of reality where we still feel unattached to the situation at hand, disturbing as it may be. But the parallels of the horrors of real-life abusive relationships are there, such as the abuser giving his partner a gift in exchange for him being able to hurt her physically and emotionally, with the gift itself only further fueling his power over her. Everything, from the shadows cast on Charles’s face and on Elizabeth’s impossibly pale body, to the passionate-yet-toxic chemistry between them, all of the hints of something sinister are there–you just have to look for them.
I won’t spoil anything of course, but the end of the film left me wanting more and I had so many questions–especially given the fact that I became so emotionally invested with the characters! If Alley decides to make this film into a feature, it could tie up all the loose ends left at the end of its short predecessor, and provide an opportunity for these characters to be developed even further. What I’m trying to say to you, Three Tales Productions and Darren Lynn Bousman: this is a ripe opportunity.
