Anniversary
2022 · 15m · USA
Directed by Lain Kienzle
A middle-aged woman and her best friend frantically race to give her a glam makeover for the anniversary dinner she's certain her husband is surprising her with.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone expects the husband to be the reveal, the punchline, the *thing*—and Kienzle just refuses. Instead she makes the friendship the entire emotional architecture, which is genuinely radical for a film that looks this effortless.
There's a lineage here—the female friendship film, the getting-ready scene as emotional core—executed with enough formal restraint and observational precision that it feels both intimate and inevitable, the kind of small perfect thing festivals debate for years.
The genius move is that Kienzle lets the anticipation *itself* do the work: she shoots the makeover ritual with such specificity in the performers' rhythms and glances that you're emotionally invested in a woman getting ready, full stop—that's the whole film, and it's enough.
Reviews
Laugh out loud funny short film Anniversary finds two best friends and next-door neighbors getting glam together... pure delight.
Festivals
- Woodstock Film Festival 2022