'Mesopotamia, TX' Review: A Sweet Short Film About Finding Love During A Solar Eclipse

Due to the normalization of stuff like 4DX theatres and whatnot, every movie that’s shown on those screens is labeled “gimmicky,” thereby robbing the term of its ability to attract audiences. Back in the day, gimmicks weren’t that common (or cheap), and maybe that’s why filmmakers used to put more effort into it so that their stunt would enter the history books. For example, House on Haunted Hill had theaters bring out an actual flying skeleton when a flying skeleton showed up on the screen. Clue’s ending varied from screen to screen. Tron was one of the first films to use extensive CGI. Lost in London was live streamed to selected theaters. Hardcore Henry unfolded completely from a first-person POV. Unfriended was probably the first film to take place on the screen of a laptop. Boyhood was filmed over the course of 12 years. Now, joining this eclectic list is Mesopotamia, TX, which is quite unique for being shot during a real solar eclipse.

Lucy Gamades’ Mesopotamia, TX (which is probably a reference to Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas) basically tells the story of two Texans who meet during a solar eclipse. The woman is clearly aware of how to prepare for a rare occurrence like this. She is wearing the proper gear to make the hike to the best spot in town without feeling entirely uncomfortable. She has water and probably enough supplies to ensure that she doesn’t get dehydrated or hungry while waiting for the eclipse to happen. And most importantly, she has solar viewers, which are extremely important if you want to actually observe the eclipse. Meanwhile, the man is dressed like a tourist, complete with a red cowboy hat. He has tons of beer in his bag but not a drop of water or a morsel of food. On top of that, he doesn’t have solar viewers. Luckily, due to the woman’s generous spirit, she agrees to share her water with him and give him the extra pair of solar viewing glasses that she had. Now, while the guy is thankful about all this, things begin to get a little tense when the topic of solar eclipses somehow veers into a conversation about religion and loneliness.

I think it goes without saying that the writing by Lucy Gamades in Mesopotamia, TX is excellent. The way she evolves the two characters in such a short span of time, while commenting on tricky subjects such as faith and love, is wonderful. The first act, where you are kind of getting acquainted with these two strangers, seems simple, but the organic back-and-forth between them is what forms a strong foundation for the next two acts. Yes, sure, it sounds like just two people talking to each other during a really random encounter, but I’m sure Lucy and her team must’ve needed a lot of fine-tuning and rehearsals to perfect the overall flow of the dialogue. So, major kudos to them for that. Also, both the characters are so relatable. One thinks that they are so scientific they have the high ground to scoff at others for still being awed by a totally natural occurrence, and yet their approach to viewing a solar eclipse is so impractical. Whereas the other individual thinks that they are really wholesome, pragmatic, and empathetic towards others’ beliefs, and yet they are all alone on a hill watching a solar eclipse. And the journey of self-acceptance and mutual respect that they go on is truly heartening.

While watching Mesopotamia, TX, just like me, if you wondered whether this short film has been shot on actual film cameras or if it’s been shot on digital and then passed through some kind of a “filmic” filter, allow me to clarify that Lucy Gamades used real 16mm cameras and 12 magazines to shoot this damn thing. And I think that’s impressive for a variety of reasons. For starters, there’s very little margin of error because film stock is expensive, and this is an indie short film, not a Christopher Nolan project backed by a major studio. The whole film is happening in real time under natural light that’s constantly morphing due to the solar eclipse. Some of the biggest directors avoid shooting in natural light because it’s so unpredictable, and here’s Lucy and her team seemingly doing the impossible. On top of all that, the entire conversation needs to feel spontaneous to the audience, but there’s no real room for improvisation because of the aforementioned reasons. Lucy has said that the final reaction to the eclipse is genuine and not rehearsed, but everything apart from that strictly follows the screenplay. All this is a roundabout way of saying that I don’t know how Lucy and her crew pulled this off, and that’s why it’s awesome.

Of course, Mesopotamia, TX, wouldn’t have been close to being as good as it is if it wasn’t for the talented Megan Greener and Nicky Maindiratta. The chemistry between them is one of the biggest reasons why the short film works as well as it does. They feel like they were destined to meet here and build their relationship around a solar phenomenon that’s both ordinary and mind-boggling. Megan’s mix of kindness and defensiveness is so endearing. She makes her character feel like the perfect person to rely on during any random moment of crisis, but if you take her warmth for granted, she is going to put you in your place. Nicky is uncannily relatable because, apologies for getting too personal, his character looks and acts exactly like a friend of mine. I kid you not, there are several moments in the short film where I thought I was looking at that friend, and that actually made the viewing experience more interesting. I think Nicky helped me understand that guys like his character probably come off as annoying because they haven’t developed the right set of social skills for a variety of reasons, and not because they’re inherently bad. They just need the correct dosage of empathy and guidance to come out of the shell they’ve built to hide their insecurities. So, yes, Megan and Nicky deserve a healthy round of applause.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m not a big romantic, but right after I watched Mesopotamia, TX, I went straight to Letterboxd and wrote that I want to fall in love under a solar eclipse. If that sounds like a recommendation to you, well, then watch this short film as soon as possible. To be clear, the movie never really confirms or denies whether these two characters fell in love during the solar eclipse; that’s just my interpretation. And since art is subjective, I am free to call this a romantic drama, even though IMDb and Letterboxd have labeled it as a comedy drama. Also, bringing things back to the topic of gimmicks, can movies start having actual gimmicks again, and not just stuff like being interactive like Bandersnatch or having a person interact with a character on-screen like in Megalopolis? I’m talking about real, innovative stunts that nobody has seen in the history of cinema. I mean, shooting during a solar eclipse is something. Then there’s a short film called 100 Years, due to release on November 18, 2115, in order to reflect the aging of a particular cognac. Tom Cruise and Doug Liman are actually going to space to shoot some scenes for their next collaboration. Do you get what I’m talking about? If you have any suggestions that fit the bill, let me know in the comments.