From Omeleto.
A magical bar serves second chances.
PURGY’S is used with permission from Robbie Bryan. Learn more at https://instagram.com/robbiebryanfilm.
A middle-aged woman is served a drink by an unusual bartender: a little girl, who stands behind the bar and chats with her customer. The girl says the man in charge is fine with her working there, but then she turns the conversation to the woman, who soon remembers a past tragedy she still feels guilty over.
At another point in the night, an old man takes a seat and talks to a new bartender. As they chat, the man relives an event in his past that he regrets — and the bartender has a certain connection to that event as well.
Directed and written by Robbie Bryan, this introspective short drama is named after the primary location of its setting: a magical bar where spirits from the other side can take human form and interact with those in their past who need reconnection and closure. The bar harkens back to the moodily glamorous speakeasies of Prohibition, a setting that feels both nostalgic and timeless. Shot with vividly nocturnal cinematography and an elegantly composed eye, the narrative uses the timelessness of its setting to create a place that feels removed from the real world — a feeling that becomes more otherworldly as the film’s overarching design reveals itself.
The film is essentially a series of conversations between bartenders and their customers, the dialogue thoughtful and unhurried as the perfunctory customer-server relationship develops and unfolds. Many bartenders often serve as de facto therapists and sounding boards as their customers relax with a drink and unload their troubles and cares, but the film uses that idea to explore more spiritual concerns. At Purgy’s, spirits of the past can take form and interact with pivotal people from their past. The conversation allows both parties to off-load things unsaid and feelings unexplored, allowing both sides to achieve some sense of moving on.
The format and structure allow for a certain elasticity, which the storytelling takes advantage of to explore different interpersonal situations, collectively conveyed with shade and nuance by actors Arnold Chun, Brooke Lewis Bellas, Richard Riehle and Luciana Elisa Quinionez. The story opens with a mother still grieving the death of her baby years after a tragic accident, but the most developed arc follows an old man who watched his friends beat up a neighbor in his younger days. The bartenders, too, have their own sadnesses and unresolved griefs to contend with.
What ties all these situations together is regrets, guilt and forgiveness, and what it means to carry those weights for a lifetime. These form the thematic backbone of PURGY’S, and the contemplation of its characters is an invitation to viewers as well. It asks us to look within and have hard conversations, with ourselves and others, so we can leave the world with peace. Where we go on, no one knows. But here on earth, we can do our best to achieve resolution and forgiveness while we still can.
