See You Then

A beautifully written and powerful character-driven film that starts off with Kris and Naomi, former college sweethearts, going down memory lane, but quickly veers into an emotion-packed exploration of everything that went unsaid when they broke up and the divergent paths of their lives over the ensuing decade. Wonderful cinematography allows the audience to unintrusively participate in the intimacy of their reunion night where they share the ups and downs of their lives over the last decade. As the night progresses and the motivations behind, and consequences of, their breakup come to light during an impassioned argument, they are both left to deal with the truths that have finally shared and find their own paths toward closure.

Back in college, they were a couple. 15 years after an abrupt departure, Kris and Naomi reconnect, over dinner, drinks, and a visit to the college campus. Kris has transitioned into a woman, whereas Naomi has moved from performance art to art professor. Besides keeping up on their respective lives, feelings about old times come up.

The performances are great. However, there are loose ends, mostly in how they got from one point to another, More importantly, there is a hefty loose beginning. I have trouble believing Naomi would be unemotional about her boyfriend leaving without explanation or contact, and many years later (15 is my estimate from numbers in the film) show up as a woman and say "I'm in the neighborhood, let's meet for dinner".

Filmmaker Mari Walker is unafraid to peel away the armor we tend to put up with old acquaintances--in this case, old lovers with a unique history and buried secrets. She grinds her characters down until there's nothing left but the truth. It's beautiful, harsh, honest.

Available on demand, See You Then is within that genre I love about the conversation of your life, centering in this film on two exes getting together years after their breakup. Uniquely, this film features an Asian American lead (Lynn Chen) and a trans woman (Pooya Mohseni), meeting up years after their breakup and after her transition. While the LGBTQ+ aspect is a portion of the story, it resides with equal weight to the trauma of a break-up, paths not taken, and the wonder of what if. I think what makes this conversation-of-your-life genre work is how messy, complicated, and visceral the conversation can get, and this film delivers. In this indie film, the camera angles seem awkward at times, though I think it's partially to share the awkwardness of the moment.

This movie drew me in from the start and kept me captivated throughout. It is a moving and powerful story that unfolds through a conversation between two women who haven't seen each other for over ten years. I love the way their conversation flows so naturally - evolving and slowly revealing their complex emotions. We all have to come to terms with what makes us who we are and what we want our lives to look like. I grew to care about these women (portrayed by two really great actors), and the end does not disappoint.