Shoes Off
2023 · 7m · USA
Directed by Joel Jay Blacker
Genres: comedy, dark comedy
Tones: absurdist, dark, humorous, tender
Two drunk best friends return home after a night out; when one asks the other to remove his shoes if he passes out, his friend takes the request and runs with it, escalating into an absurdist caregiving spiral that becomes a surprisingly tender portrait of male friendship.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Drunk friend takes 'take my shoes off' instruction to absurd extremes, shot like a thriller — that's a smart joke about genre grammar and male friendship. Sold.
Borrowing thriller grammar — slow zooms, ominous sound — to frame drunken platonic care is precisely the kind of genre-contrast comedy that pays off on a short canvas. Modest but well-conceived.
Seven minutes borrowing thriller grammar — slow zooms, ominous sound design — to frame a completely benign act of drunk friendship is exactly the genre-contrast joke that justifies its existence. Reframing platonic male care as quietly heroic through stolen horror language is sharp screenwriting.
Reviews
A hilarious and off-kilter portrayal of vulnerable masculinity.
A sweet and touching tale with a lot of heart... We don't often get films where two men just express their love for one another.
Festivals
- Palm Springs ShortFest 2023
- FilmQuest 2023
- Austin Film Festival 2023