Director: Alexander Berman
MPAA Rating: NR
We currently live in a society where everyone is constantly connected to a glowing screen, cataloging and recording their everything thought. From our favorite movies and TV shows, to what we had for breakfast, to our relationship status, most of us have become open books to the world. In the short film App, writer/director Alexander Berman explores this topic and how sometimes it’s best to let your heart do the computing.
The film revolves around Paul (Braden Lynch), a down on his luck app developer who creates a Siri-like program that has the ability to scrub someone’s online presence and tell the user everything they could ever want to know about the target. Paul is about to lose his data unless he gets some money fast so he uses his app to locate the whereabouts of an angel investor.
The investor turns out to be a kind of a dick and tells Paul if he can use his app to pick up a woman at a bar and create a sex tape with her, then he’ll invest. While at first he goes along with it, Paul begins to question the ethics of what he’s doing and unwittingly begins to fall for the girl he’s trying to sleep with.
The film’s predictable nature and unfunny dialogue prevent it from being something truly special, but the light story and happy ending makes it an enjoyable watch nonetheless. The 22-minute runtime also ensures that nothing about the film overstays its welcome. The small cast is developed as the plot progresses, and nothing feels extraneous or superfluous.
App unfortunately feels like it came several years too late however. With films like Her, Transcendence, and the newly released feature length film also titled App, it seems like everyone is attempting to explore this same subject matter in very similar ways. As a result, there’s simply not enough new material here to set it apart from all the others.
Despite this, it still manages to be a relatively cute love story, even though I’m not sure it should have worked out between the two main characters. Yes, Paul makes the right decision in the end, but he still manipulated the girl at every turn right up until he slept with her. The only way he can truly redeem himself would be to confess he was using the app, which will assuredly end whatever budding relationship he was forming. I’d like to think he told her and she forgave him, and they lived happily ever after, unlikely as it may be.
App is a breezy little love story that teaches us to never use technology as a crutch when attempting to truly connect to another person. It’s predictable and lacks originality, but it’s well made, competently acted, and provides an overall enjoyable experience.
