Ewww
2017 · 7m · UK
Directed by Alexei Slater
A couple's first date takes a sudden, nightmarish turn when an unwelcome revelation derails the romance. The short subverts standard dating-comedy conventions with a surprise punchline finale.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Finally—a first-date short that knows the rom-com formula well enough to detonate it from the inside. That pivot from meet-cute to visceral wrongness is exactly the kind of "wait, WHAT?" subversion that makes people actually *talk* about shorts instead of just scrolling past them.
Slater executes a clean structural inversion—the editing holds the tonal contract until the reveal demands we recontextualize everything—but the payoff leans heavily on shock value rather than earned thematic complexity; a well-crafted punchline, though perhaps too dependent on surprise to sustain deeper argument.
The entire short pivots on one decision: the timing of when to let the audience *see* what's actually happening, and Slater's commitment to that reveal—played straight through the couple's obliviousness—is what makes the six minutes sing instead of just land a joke.
Reviews
Brilliantly funny.
A spoof and wholly comedic film that makes you laugh heartily while also taking aim at the awkwardness of first dates and expectations on both sides.
Festivals
- Crystal Palace International Film Festival 2017, Best Comedy
- Elba Comedy Film Festival 2017, Finalist
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2017
- Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2017
- Brooklyn Comedy Festival 2017
- Iron Mule Short Comedy Film Festival 2017