When her boyfriend Dan invites her over for dinner, Hannah ponders the reasons for the sudden meal and in particular what a marriage proposal will mean for her life and their lives together. This short film is very well pitched because it manages to be amusing without being funny to the point where it pushes the film too far one way, but at the same time it manages to be serious in tone so that it keeps in touch with this side, but not to the point where it cannot be amusing at the same time. The film sees a dry and crisp narrator tells us the thoughts in Hannah's head as she mulls marriage and the life she has in front of her – in a slightly self-focused manner.
This side of the film is amusing and very nicely filmed with energy and it flows around the images and thoughts very well. This continues until a conclusion which is more meaningful and brings an abrupt change to Hannah's thoughts and leaves the viewer with a more open, caring and touching line than the original self-focused material of the first half. The change in tone in the later stages of the film is very well done and, as I said, it balances this in the first half so that the shift is dramatic but not to the point where it feels off balance.
Brighting is a great fit as narrator as his voice is very warm and engaging. Mistruzzi is good as Hannah and she holds the attention as we spent a lot of the film with her and very close to her face. Fisher is a bit of a plot device and not a great presence it must be said, I felt like I never knew his character or who he was, which is a problem but not a massive one. As director and writer Lo does very well and shows a good judgment on tone while also being very good with the camera and the construction of his action. He impressed me with this even before I noticed that I had seen two of his short films before as he is credited with writing two Call of Duty fan films, which is an odd pair to contrast with this much more delicate work.
Dan Invited Hannah Over for Dinner is a delicate short film which balances its tone very well so that it is amusing but never too far into humor so that more serious material doesn't work when it has its turn.
This side of the film is amusing and very nicely filmed with energy and it flows around the images and thoughts very well. This continues until a conclusion which is more meaningful and brings an abrupt change to Hannah's thoughts and leaves the viewer with a more open, caring and touching line than the original self-focused material of the first half. The change in tone in the later stages of the film is very well done and, as I said, it balances this in the first half so that the shift is dramatic but not to the point where it feels off balance.
Brighting is a great fit as narrator as his voice is very warm and engaging. Mistruzzi is good as Hannah and she holds the attention as we spent a lot of the film with her and very close to her face. Fisher is a bit of a plot device and not a great presence it must be said, I felt like I never knew his character or who he was, which is a problem but not a massive one. As director and writer Lo does very well and shows a good judgment on tone while also being very good with the camera and the construction of his action. He impressed me with this even before I noticed that I had seen two of his short films before as he is credited with writing two Call of Duty fan films, which is an odd pair to contrast with this much more delicate work.
Dan Invited Hannah Over for Dinner is a delicate short film which balances its tone very well so that it is amusing but never too far into humor so that more serious material doesn't work when it has its turn.
