A couple are heading to a party which, if she is honest (she's not) she doesn't want to go to, and instead the couple trigger their usual fight as a way of avoiding the discussion. However it soon transpires there is a third party involved here.
There is a certain familiarity about The Oven, with its device of the external narrator being involved in proceedings. The unfortunate thing for the film is that when a short does have this feeling, it puts more pressure on it to rise about the memory of other films, and be strong enough to push them out of your mind while watching. With The Oven, it doesn't really manage this, and it does come over like it needed to be tighter and sharper for it to really work. The core story is fine, and is well preformed by the two actors and their unseen narrator, however it is never as sharp or funny as you expect it to be. This isn't helped by the pacing, and I thought the film ran too long for what it does – not hugely so, but enough that the film did feel it was stretching out a bit more than it needed to.
It is still an okay short, with a good idea and casting; it is just that lack of real sharpness and tightness in the writing and delivery that limits it.
