From Omeleto.
A teenager discovers her best friend’s secret.
A REAL ONE is used with permission from McKenzie Chinn. Learn more at https://areal1film.com.
Lauren and Keisha are best friends. They’re seniors in high school, living in Chicago’s South Side. Lauren is smart and ambitious, with dreams of attending a good college. Keisha is skeptical about college and a realist, with outspoken energy. Though different, they still have one another’s backs.
When Keisha discovers a tightly-held secret of Lauren’s, it shakes the foundation of their bond. But they must find their way back to their friendship in a world where the only thing they can count on is each other.
Directed and written by McKenzie Chinn, this absorbing short drama looks at the ripple effects of a problematic relationship through the prism of a loyal female friendship. The film begins with a lovely dreamlike sequence of Lauren as she contemplates her moodboard of hopes and dreams, where admission to the University of Chicago is in pride of place. But then reality ruptures the ethereal interlude in the form of a more naturalistic, handheld visual style, situating her and her friend Keisha in the grittier environs of south Chicago, where they hang out and go to school — Lauren seriously, Keisha less so.
Despite their differences, the pair love one another like sisters and serve as one another’s anchors in a world where they seem adrift and left to fend for themselves. The beautifully natural dialogue has a pitch-perfect ear for the friends’ differences but also their genuine affection for one another, captured in genuine, perceptive performances by actors Eris Baker and Ireon Roach as Lauren and Keisha, respectively. Their portrayal of these friends is the film’s beating heart, and when life hits its lowest point and nothing seems to be good, solid or whole for them, they have one another.
Longlisted for the 2024 Oscar live-action short, A REAL ONE doesn’t end in a trenchant call to justice or a retributive comeuppance, and viewers may sense that the exploitation revealed will likely continue as an open secret with no consequences. That’s the world that Lauren and Keisha live in. Within it, their friendship is the only shelter, and one of the film’s most valuable consolations is how this latest challenge has cemented their bond. Whether or not Lauren goes away for school or how divergent their paths become, they have one another to nourish and care for, much like the wildflowers referred to in the closing song.
