'The Closet' Review: Short Film's Pastel Aesthetics Hides Its Quiet Sense Of Melancholy

The Closet might have a running time of just five minutes, and it seems to cut to the credits before it gets to its most interesting part, but the message about queerness that it manages to convey within that short period is quite impactful. Written and directed by Olivia Jean Hamilton, the short film tells the story of Olympia, who has invited her friends, Sasha, Becca, and Gray, over for snacks. No, she hasn’t called them to show off her cookie or charcuterie board arrangement skills. Her real motive is to come out to them as bisexual. Before her friends arrive at her doorstep, Olympia tries iterations of the method she is going to use to tell them about her sexuality. She is unable to settle on an option; so, when her friends eventually arrive, she settles them down in her bedroom, and then starts running in and out of her closet. Of course, Sasha, Becca, and Gray are severely confused by Olympia’s antics. Hence, Olympia is left with no other option but to blurt out that she’s bi. What happens next? Well, of course, her queerness is accepted warmly by her friends, and they proceed to have the awesome food Olympia has arranged, while talking about being queer.

I don’t really know how one comes to the conclusion that they want to make a 5-minute short, because a 5-minute short film doesn’t actually have 300 seconds of footage. Almost 1 minute is dedicated to the opening and closing credits. So, technically, the duration of the short film is 4 minutes. If that’s something that Olivia decided before writing or filming, that must’ve been nerve-wracking. I mean, the topic of queerness is so vast and layered; and to boil it down to 4 minutes is insane to me. It’s like you are backing yourself into a corner, memorizing your targets, turning off all the lights, and then hitting said targets. And, yeah, Olivia gets it done; the efficiency with which she utilizes the running time is worthy of applause. The build-up and the reveal, on the surface, seems like just goofy shenanigans. But if you dig under the surface, the nervousness around Olympia coming out as bi in the 21st century feels like a commentary on how society hasn’t normalized queerness yet. Even now, we fear how we will be judged, that too by our closest friends, for simply being who we are. You might think that your parents or your BFF who you have known since your childhood will stand by you no matter what, but as soon as you say that you are queer, you will probably find out how the current socio-political climate has affected their mindset.

The Closet obviously goes for a saccharine conclusion, which is underscored by the pastel art direction. The food, the costume design, the set design, the hair-and-make-up design, the music, the cinematography, and the editing aims for a cozy, comforting tone. But in doing so, Olivia lowkey hides the melancholic state of queer people in this day and age. Of course, once you are out and about, you can find your people, cherish one another, exchange stories of the experience you have had as a queer person, and more. However, how many people have the privilege of doing that? I mean, recently, the Indian government passed a law that enables the societal harassment and persecution of the trans community. And this is not a country that’s shut off from the rest of the world. It’s a part of nearly every global conversation; yet, look how it is regressing when it comes to queer representation. So, yeah, while Olympia’s anticipation, fear, and the method that she uses to come out can seem cringe-inducing and maybe even laughable, I think she subtly channels the sense of fear and dread that a lot of queer people are experiencing nowadays. I sincerely hope that the relief she experiences at the end is something that every queer person can feel some day.

This is most definitely not something that The Closet wants to make a point about, but I want to highlight it: the food. Food is something that we see, smell, make, and then eat all the time. It’s an aspect of our lives that we are very familiar with. So, it’s extremely important that it looks and feels authentic on-screen. Do you remember the poached eggs in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Yeah, Zack Snyder thought that Henry Cavill’s torso was gonna distract us from those fake-as-hell eggs, but it didn’t. Since then, every time any kind of food appears in movies, TV shows, or short films, I analyze it to death. I need to know if it was made from scratch, store-bought, or carved out of styrofoam (or some synthetic material). If it’s real food, did the cast and crew consume it, or was it thrown away? If it was totally fake, what kinda effort went into making it so realistic? What does that amount of food say about the character who made it? Is the food supposed to hide her insecurities and then become an extension of her self-confidence? If the food was synthetic, then the time you take to shoot a scene isn’t an issue, but if the food is real, does that dictate the speed at which you have to do a scene? Therefore, while everyone might not be paying any attention to the food, those were the questions racing through my head.

The performances from the entire cast of The Closet are great, but the short film does entirely rest on Amy Ward’s shoulders. The conversations she has with herself are so relatable. And the manner in which she uses her entire body to convey all the emotions she is experiencing during the final moments of the film is genuinely impressive. Like most good short films, my biggest gripe about this one is that it’s not longer. I would have loved to see more of what drove Olympia to arrive at that decision. I wanted to see what happened in Olympia’s life after she came out as bisexual, how her friends helped her get dates, and how she evolved as a person. At the same time, I understand that one of the purposes of a short film is to showcase the storyteller’s talent so that they can get the greenlight for future projects. Hence, I hope this short film gets the attention and appreciation it deserves, and I can’t wait to see what Olivia Jean Hamilton comes up with next. In addition to that, I wanna say that I am always praying that queer people get the safe spaces they need to explore their identities, and that governments do better to represent the queer community.