From Omeleto.
A man is suspicious.
BULLY is used with permission from Martin Stocks. Learn more at https://instagram.com/martintstocks.
A group of old and new friends has gathered for a dinner party. The vibe is mostly convivial, with wine and conversation flowing. But as the group gets deeper into conversation, one of the guests, Steve, becomes convinced that another man in the group, Luke, is someone from his past during his younger years.
Steve tries to figure out who Luke could be, wondering if they played rugby union together. Despite Luke insisting he played rugby league, not union, Steve soon becomes suspicious that Luke is his former bully. And while both are now grown up, Steve has never forgotten the shame, fear and humiliation of the torment he suffered.
Directed and written by Martin Stocks, this compelling short drama hinges on the question of whether we ever truly leave our past behind, especially the more difficult emotions and experiences. Steve and his friends are adults now, and we meet them on the very grown-up occasion of a dinner party full of wine, food and conversation. The dinner party is an archetypal rite of adulthood, full of civility, politesse and our most mature selves. But that facade cracks here as the specter of Steve’s tormentor looms over the proceedings, making for an unpredictable occasion.
Gatherings like dinners have great dramatic potential in a narrative, where characters with often conflicting agendas come together in a compressed setting and period. The storytelling here uses the gathering as an opportunity for mystery, as Steve slowly makes the realization that one of his evening’s companions may be someone from his past, and he spends much of the narrative trying to figure out if his suspicions are correct. Actor Richard Glover conveys this revelation in a deft, layered performance, and the thought that Luke could be the abuser of his youth sparks a slow change in him over the remains of the dinner, though he has to hide this realization within the confines of the occasion.
But once the idea gets in Steve’s head, he can’t let it go. Instead, it pushes Steve to question Luke more, and slowly the lighter, convivial tenor of the dinner party turns into something like an interrogation, complete with passive-aggressive jabs. At first, Steve tries to be subtle. But as his buried anger and resentment come to the fore, the other guests begin to note the growing hostility as well. Steve’s darkest, thorniest feelings and impulses start to percolate, and keeping those down proves to be the biggest difficulty.
Well-paced, compelling and shot with both intimacy and a slightly shadowy ambiguity, BULLY has the finesse of a well-done chamber drama, rich with excellent dialogue and performances. It excels at the tension between facade and reality, both within Steve and the social fabric of the party itself. For much of the film, the conflict stews in Steve’s mind, bubbling up in certain moments, even as Luke maintains his innocence. But a crack in the firmament, cleverly woven into the storytelling, hints that bullies from our youth often grow up to be adults who dominate and intimidate. And like in the past, they need to be dealt with, no matter the age or setting.
