
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Load! – Helene Madsen Smed – United Kingdom – 12 min
Director: Helene Madsen Smed
Country: United Kingdom
Runtime: 13:00
Genres: Indie, Comedy, Drama, Short
Year: 2022
Synopsis:
-The art of miscommunicating
Joyce and Michael have been a couple for several years and live together. Michael comes home after work, while Joyce sits on the sofa, lost in her phone, of which she quickly hides when she hears Michael stepping into the apartment. They want to order take away, but are disagreeing on where to order it from – Joyce wants to try something new and Michael wants to order from the customary “Chimalis”. Despite Joyce’s strong arguments, Michael wins the discussion and it results in a tense atmosphere. Michael notices that Joyce spends an exceptional amount of time on her phone. Michael slips into something comfortable.
In the attempt to lighten the mood, Joyce suggests that they start with the dessert – a ‘BJ’. They misunderstand each other, Michael thinks that they are talking about sex, while Joyce thinks they are going to share a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As a result, Michael ejaculates on the floor, by accident.
After the episode, Michael needs an answer to Joyce’s secrecy on her phone, which triggers an escalating agument, as they have not had sex for 5½ months. It turns out that Joyce fancies something else and has therefore subscriped to a porn site, which she has become addicted to.
Trying to solve their problem, Joyce presents Michael with her desires and fantasies, about having intercorse with a muscle man in front of him. Michael hesitantly states that he wishes to accommodate Joyce’s fantasy. When the pizza finally arrives, the delivery guy from Chimalis is the perfect match on what Joyce and Michael have discussed and the film ends in one big question mark.