Gutted
2022 · 13m
Directed by Jacob Isaiah Kelly
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, tender
Jack tries to be his best for his girlfriend, assaulted days ago, in a test of what it means to be a good man, a good boyfriend, an ideal supporter.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone expects the boyfriend to either crumble or become a saint—Gutted refuses both, which is refreshing, but the film's earnest tenderness occasionally feels like it's working *too* hard to prove its own decency, which is exactly the trap it's examining and somewhat falls into.
Kelly situates this intimate portrait within a lineage of relationship dramas that prize restraint and implication over exposition, and the editing rhythm—particularly in how silence functions between scenes—demonstrates genuine formal awareness of how vulnerability reads on screen.
The film hinges entirely on Kelly's decision to keep the camera proximate and still during moments of attempted intimacy, letting awkwardness breathe without cutting away, which transforms what could've been a PSA into something genuinely lived and uncertain.
Reviews
Jacob Isaiah Kelly's Gutted examines what it means to be a good man, a good boyfriend and an ideal supporter when put to the test by a time of crisis. Misplaced though Jack's feelings and actions are, they are investigated with seriousness.