The Last Day of Retrograde

Wow. This film tackles so much, so beautifully.

I'm not sure there's even a single heterosexual character. The lgbt and trans themes feels so natural, its hardly even talked about.

This day in the life film follows complex love and lust filled relationships of young Bay Area performers as they navigate through a landscape drenched with their parents generation's addictions, their own, and the high pressured world of Silicon Valley that fueled the suicide epidemic in 2010. Character's feel dimensional and filled with imperfections, without being villainized.

The film contains various miniature art pieces, elements of surrealism and cumulates in a Commedia Dell Arte performance. It's a treat to see the entire show, rather than the few seconds that most movies and tv shows do.

There's a reason Kaya Mey took the Best Comedic Performance prize for their work on this independent film about various relationships. They make a hilarious entrance with their not-quite-breaking-the-fourth-wall expressions like Tina Fey might in 30 Rock. Mey practically winks at us and lets us in on the joke.

It's a charming move that instantly makes them the "It" focus of the film; when they're on-screen, no matter the scene, I paid attention. Something is about to happen.

But Mey is not all clown. During a serious confrontation later in the film, they show us their character's true vulnerability as they describe how hurt they felt about the end of a relationship and how much they are looking for closure.

Eventually things end on a resolved happy note though not without some serious drama.

The credits reveal Mey wrote a comedic play-within-a-movie, another talent of many they have up their sleeve. Keep your eye out for this charming actor who is bound to deliver the goods.