From Omeleto.
A woman goes to her boyfriend’s home.
CURIOSA is used with permission from Tessa Moult-Milewska. Learn more at https://tessamm.com.
After a promising date with James, Mary heads to his apartment but is taken aback to find it almost empty. As he tries to explain his lack of decor and "special things," as Mary calls them, she finds herself transported to a special room, full of homey and charming objects that seem to represent what he loves and treasures.
As she explores the room — and their date turns more affectionate — Mary soon discovers some of the quirks in the room are not so charming, but strange and off-putting. Mary presses James to elaborate but finds herself confronted with the darkest recesses of his inner life.
Directed by Tessa Moult-Milewska, who co-wrote the script with Matthew Dicky, this surreally inventive short animated film is a playful exploration of intimacy, curiosity and just how much we need to know about our romantic partners before taking the next step with them. Through richly detailed stop-motion animation, a fanciful world is created, representing the inner world of Mary’s paramour James, whose flat she is visiting for the first time. But as James elaborates and Mary’s instincts pick up, the proverbial rug is pulled out from under this cozy little milieu, revealing a messier, more complex reality.
The animation is beautifully crafted and uniquely expressive, deftly weaving James’s interests, values, and experiences into a kind of imaginative "memory palace" that Mary freely explores, satisfying her intense curiosity. This room is warmly inviting, filled with endearing quirks, mellow golden light, soft colors and captivating details; it also adroitly mirrors how we often present ourselves to romantic prospects, promising good times, care and stimulating experiences.
But Mary can’t help but want to go further, into the locked closets and other rooms of what appears to be a cheerful, comfortable house. What she discovers is surreal, sometimes funny and complicated — much messier than the idyllic domesticity promised earlier. Visually, the animation changes as well, becoming starker, darker and even more abstract, as Mary uncovers the messiness of James’s past — and perhaps rethinks the boundaries of her insatiable curiosity.
Intriguing, eye-catching and distinctive, CURIOSA ends on an understated, humorously ironic note, with a wry observation of how our quest for intimacy with someone is sometimes confused with a thirst to uncover anything and everything about our mates. Mary discovers that there is such a thing as "TMI," and by the end, she might just be pondering if the doors to the past were better left closed — or at least not riffled through. Better that she focus on the present and the person in front of her, if there’s any hope for a shared future.
