A short film is the art of fitting entire worlds into a limited amount of time. Poppy Gordon’s INTIMITÉ does exactly that. With a fast-paced structure reminiscent of The Studio and Birdman, and an ability to show multiple things within even a single second, it manages to create the feeling that you have watched an entire musical in a very short amount of time.
The film follows an incident that begins when, during the filming of a sex scene, the male actor goes too far, causing the intimacy coordinator on set to intervene after the male lead goes off-script and starts kissing his co-star’s ass. From there, we follow the argument between the producer, the male lead, and the intimacy coordinator, as well as the reactions of the rest of the crew to what has happened. It is clear that the male lead is someone who objects to being “overly sensitive,” as well as someone who objects to cancel culture. The producer, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to care much about what happened and behaves like a classic producer. The director is nowhere to be found. In short, I think we can say that the film does a good job of reflecting the state of the industry and the working environments on film sets. The intimacy coordinator convinces the lead to construct an entirely new scene, and the fact that all of these moments are performed by a dance troupe is an ingenious touch of elegance that also reveals a lot about the intimacy coordinator’s inner world.
All of these events take place within 10 minutes, accompanied by a constant drumbeat in the background that keeps you immersed in what is happening. It is a lot of fun to watch. The film is incredibly dynamic, constantly moving from one scene to another, with a kind of energy that even people with attention issues might struggle to look away from.
Alex Moffat gives a phenomenal performance from beginning to end. He does a fantastic job portraying someone who carries a certain anger toward people who are considered overly sensitive and who rebels against this situation, while putting his entire self into the role. He spends almost the entire film naked. Just like a truly dedicated actor who gives himself completely to his role… Just like Martin Sheen… “Let’s use that as the bar.”
