Too Long at the Fair

To stay "Too Long at the Fair" I assume means that you've stopped enjoying the highs of the day, and now you're a bit tired, the ground is muddy from the crowds, the mood has changed from family fun to drunken teens, and basically you should have left when it was bright and breezy. I assume this because it fits with the content of the film, which opens with two young adults running a silly business and trying to live out whatever their dreams are at that age. This sense of free-wheeling continues as they meet an older man and end up in his massive house. Fun continues until it doesn't.

This short has a very nice control of tone in this regard because essentially it captures the fun of the fair, the turn to something a bit different but maybe okay, and then that regret that sinks in later. The energy of the start gives it something to go with, and it does engage. The turning moment late in the film is very well done as it feeds off what went before whilst almost managing to be different. The ending has a good punch to it, because it very much convinces about that time of life where you are an adult but still are enjoying it in a consequence-free way, because they haven't really hit home - then they do. The performances are engaging, and sell the content - nice find to see Messina in there after seeing him in heavy-hitters like Six Feet Under and the recent Sharp Objects.