From Omeleto.
A young woman feels guilty.
DIRTY TOWEL is used with permission from Callie Carpentieri. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/dirtytowelmovie.
When Charlie was a young girl, her single mother, Elizabeth, gave her a vivid lesson about sexuality, likening her purity to a towel. But now that Charlie is a young woman, she’s ready for independence and experience.
But even as Charlie strikes out on her own, her mother’s words have embedded themselves in her mind. And after her first amorous adventure, her mother’s voice is all she can hear, leading Charlie to grapple with confusion and shame — until she confronts her internalized stigma.
Directed by Callie Carpentieri from a script co-written with Emma Parks, who also plays the lead role of Charlie, this short is a poignant blend of playful comedy, coming-of-age insight and how beliefs are passed down and reckoned with between generations. The film has a bright, cheerful visual approach, with clear, bright lighting and a crisp gleam that speaks to both its positive spirit and emotional clarity. But while it has an almost whimsical comedic tone in the storytelling, it takes Charlie’s emotional dilemma seriously, making for a heartfelt and gently thought-provoking watch.
The narrative opens with Charlie as a child, listening to her mom expound on how her innocence and purity as a person are like a towel — clean and unspoiled at first, but irretrievably sullied with the introduction of sensuality in her life. Elizabeth is a stern, even tightly-wound parent; her contrast to her young daughter played for laughs. But Charlie’s mother is deadly serious in her judgment, and the vividness of her lesson casts a long shadow in both Charlie and the storytelling, which launches into an older Charlie diving gleefully into her initial consummation.
But afterward, Charlie feels intense guilt, which manifests itself often as surreally funny intrusive visions and thoughts. These often literalize her mother’s warnings, popping up in the most random and strange places. These flourishes are often quirky, but their impact on Charlie is undeniably real. As Charlie, actor Emma Parks offers a grounded performance that is both funny and emotionally authentic in the highs and lows of entering adulthood. But the film’s smart, witty and compassionate writing also fleshes out Elizabeth, played by actor Laura Coover with a steely demeanor overlaid over a core of protection, so that her daughter doesn’t make the same mistakes she did.
Charlie understands this motivation, but she also articulates her own perspective — making room for her voice alongside that of her mother’s. That proclamation makes for the turning point of DIRTY TOWEL, a convergence of its humor, emotional intelligence and confident performances and craft. It has deep convictions and insights about experience, empowerment and breaking intergenerational patterns, but it wears these with a light but confident touch, making for a film that’s entertaining, smart and touching in equal parts.
