A lonely young man and a woman with marriage problems drink beers at the a park -- and form an unlikely friendship.


SAM AND SOPHIE is used with permission from Caitlyn Bryan and Ben Bryan. Learn more at https://imdb.com/title/tt21862308.


Awkward, young and slightly hapless, Sam has just been fired from his job. His boss, fed up with his lack of initiative, has given him the boot. Sam enjoys making paintings but keeps his work to himself, and he's not sure what to do next.

Across town, Sophie has just discovered her husband Richard has been cheating on her. Distraught and unhappy after a conversation with her spouse, she leaves the house for a walk and then encounters Sam sitting in a park. They strike up a conversation, forging a strange bond that makes them feel less lonely and helps them move forward.

Directed by Caitlyn Bryan and Ben Bryan from a script written by Louis Dickins, who also co-stars as Sam, this short drama would appear to be a humble slice-of-life narrative, ambling along as it observes its characters muddle and struggle their way through a series of personal crises. And certainly, with its propensity for static black-and-white shots, long takes and straightforward image compositions, it does feel as if the camera is simply recording life as it happens. But as the storytelling unfolds and we spend more time with its central characters, it reveals itself to be more intimate, artful and specific than meets the eye at first, especially as the characters reveal themselves to one another.

The pacing is on the even and patient end, carefully setting up Sam and Sophie at their separate breaking points. Sam gets reprimanded and then fired by his irate boss; Sophie discovers her husband is unfaithful. We spend a lot of time with each character during these scenes, as they experience a gamut of feelings ranging from bereftness to humiliation to bewilderment, as well as nuances of dry humor in even the most challenging of situations. The world, it seems, is an overwhelming, even painful place for these sensitive characters.

At some point, though, Sam and Sophie converge, in a kind of conversation that is ordinary, revealing and philosophical, all at once. Actors Dickins and Eugenia Garcia Rahi convey the lost state of each character, one that perhaps lowers the typical social barriers to confiding personal matters to total strangers. Both actors manage a fine balancing act of being total strangers who are fundamentally decent people, sensing a space for authenticity with the other -- one that both leap into, with fascinating and even moving results. One gets the gift of being affirmed; the other gets a respite to gather themselves before they confront their life. Both get what they need to move ahead in life, from the least likely of sources.

Fans of early Jim Jarmusch will find much to appreciate in SAM AND SOPHIE, from the evocative use of black-and-white cinematography to the deadpan humor to the unexpected, slightly flummoxed turns in plot and action. But what this film and Jarmusch truly share beyond style is both a melancholic resignation at the absurdities of the human condition and a warm affection for the foibles and eccentricities that we lost souls use to cope with it all. In the end, Sam and Sophie's fates, both as friends and as separate beings, are still uncertain. Nevertheless, there's a sense of optimism, with both experiencing a sense of empathy and compassion with each other. It's enough to dislodge them from where they felt stuck and help them move forward into an uncertain future.