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Review: ‘Love & Other Crimes’ takes you prisoner
Clarito Zapanta offers up a solid showcase with his new short film.
Short films serve as essential building blocks for any filmmaker. Whether it’s budgetary constraints or something else entirely, shorts give writers and directors crucial creative avenues for expression. Director Clarito Zapanta offers a glimpse into his artistry with the culturally timely Love & Other Crimes. Written by Brandon Newman, the short film explores the emotional and mental anguish experienced by law enforcement while also exposing the humanity of the disenfranchised of society. It’s a balancing act to engage in a genuine conversation during the sociopolitical turmoil currently raging across the United States.
Noah Thomas (Justin P. Slaughter) tries his best to live an honest, good life. While having a drink at a local watering hole, he reconnects with an old high school friend, Parker (Jon Meggison). But the rekindled camaraderie is short-lived when Noah becomes his roommate. Parker, perhaps unintentionally, wrangles Noah into a dark, slimy underworld of violence and chaos. As romance blossoms with a waitress, Shaye (Jaelyn Sierra), his life has never been more complicated.
Slaughter commands the screen. In offering a layered performance, he keeps the audience glued to their seats. The complexity of friendship and human connection tangles with the larger, of-the-moment themes of anger, accountability, and doing literally anything to survive a cold, heartless world. With cinematographer Reuben Evans in tow, Zapanta delivers a sharp, polished look to the film that feels equally mainstream and delightfully indie. He keeps things low-scale but shoots for the moon.
Love & Other Crimes is far from perfect, however. Many players feel too green for the emotional weight of the story, often detached from the driving, emotional beats required for the story. For that, Slaughter largely carries the film on his shoulders—doing his best to make up for the lack of intent from his fellow scene partners. You could argue that he’s pulling double duty here to fully unleash the story’s necessary punches.
Clarito Zapanta’s Love & Other Crimes mostly sticks the landing. As it lurches into the finale, dots are connected, and story arcs are complete, allowing the viewer to feel satisfied and itching for what the creative team has up their sleeves next. And that final moment will stick with you long after the credits.
Love & Other Crimes is making the festival rounds this year before its June 19th release on Prime.
