Before we’re old enough to truly understand love and rejection, we pretend to know the adult world around us. We practice kissing on pillows, dress up in costumes, take on new personalities, and fantasize about the future. Whether it’s playing house, dress up, or some other version of make believe, these games are an imitation of a world just outside our reach, but still close enough for us to mimic. In this week’s Staff Pick Premiere, Australian filmmaker Alice Englert explores this unique time in adolescence with a directorial debut that’s full of mystery, tension, and humor. “The Boyfriend Game” is a gripping tale of two friends whose innocent game takes a revealing turn and establishes Engler as a filmmaker to watch.
The film follows Tomika (Morgana Davies) and Edith (Thomasin McKenzie) as they wander through the bush dreaming up the qualities of their future boyfriends. But as the game goes on, dark and completed details are added through a verbal back and forth that quickly escalates to mature themes. At first, you might instinctively laugh in a “kids say the darndest things” way. But, the further they delve into their fantasy, you wonder if some version of reality is actually peeking through. This grey area — between children and adults, reality and fantasy — is where Engler draws her inspiration. “I think that most social situations have elements of reality and fantasy. Kids play at being people and then we grow up and we just can’t stop the game.”
Although this is her first time in the director’s chair, Englert is no stranger to the world of film. She’s the daughter of legendary filmmaker Jane Campion, and has had a successful career as an actor. She’s appeared in Richard LaGravenese’s Beautiful Creatures, Sally Potter’s Ginger & Rosa, and most recently Campion’s Top of the Lake. So, it’s not surprising to see her pull such captivating and natural performances from her two leads. With the adults literally cropped out of the frame, Englert focuses on the girls which she describes as “warring with narratives from culture they too have absorbed. Bad girl, good girl. They are lobbying clichés at each other, but who they really are and what they really want they are protecting and hiding.” It’s only when nobody is listening that Tomika is able to be earnest and vulnerable.
We saw “The Boyfriend Game” at the St. Kilda Film Festival, where it won awards for best screenplay and best sound post-production, and are thrilled to share it with you here. This is just the beginning of Englert’s directing career — she has another short currently on the festival circuit, and a feature in the works — and we couldn’t be more excited to see what she does next!
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