Two strangers wake up handcuffed together after a night out.


BOUND is used with permission from Joe Carter. Learn more at https://joecarterfilm.co.uk.


Kelsey and Martin are at a nightclub, eyeing up one another in a drunken haze. They're strangers who have caught one another's eye amidst the music, crowds and alcohol during some kind of wild night out.

But the next thing they know, they're waking up in the same bed -- and discover they're handcuffed together. Now the pair are forced to prolong their one-night assignation, and must work together to make it through the day until they can figure out a way to free themselves of one another.

Directed by Joe Carter, this short romantic comedy has a gritty naturalism to it, with its unvarnished characters, rough-and-tumble dialogue and the strikingly decayed urban settings that the two protagonists journey through. But in situating the conventions of romantic comedy in this milieu, it highlights both the unrealistic fantasy of romance while appealing for warts-and-all honesty in the course of genuine connection.

Much of the humor, in the beginning, comes from the situation and premise, with Martin and Kelsey literally one another's "ball and chain." Martin's get-up in the cold light of morning, along with the sight of two people fumbling together on a "walk of shame," offers almost farcical comedy to keep viewers entertained, as well as maximizes the conflict of their different personalities and aims.

But the excellent writing slowly pulls in more nuance and character, as Martin and Kelsey's forced proximity makes them confront the realities of one another's lives. Martin has a needy, possessive fiancee, and Kelsey is a single mother in a complicated relationship with her child's feckless father. Having unwittingly used each other to escape their problems the night before, they can't help but comment on one another's lives with their salty but funny banter, seeing one another's mistakes and bad decisions more clearly than themselves. But both are settling for much less in life.

Actors Laura Ferries and Cristian Ortega have appealing chemistry, portraying both a fundamental attraction to one another and a slight horror at discovering and revealing the thornier aspects of their lives and selves. Shackled to one another, they see one another at their most mundane and flawed. Yet that forces them to be honest and authentic with one another -- which, paradoxically, might make them nearly perfect together.

Fast-paced, acerbic and surprisingly grounded at key moments, BOUND tumbles its way into a screwball-level climax, complete with irate exes, blood, a conk on the head and more than a few break-ups. Its final scene, though, is a fairly quiet one in this rambunctious narrative, one where both characters have finally shed the relationships they've been settling for. Ironically, they discover that the person who wants the best for them could actually be the best partner -- it just took an extreme situation to further themselves along to this key realization.