The Watermelon

I love this movie. It's a very sweet tale of a guy who spends too much time getting stoned with his reprobate buddy until the day when whatever metaphysical forces exist in the universe decide that he needs to get on with it. Achilles (Will Beinbrink) is a good-looking guy with a minor trust fund and a somewhat sullen demeanor. One day, an old man named Homer (Mike Ivy) shows up with a travel trailer painted like a watermelon. Achilles tries to sell it, but his ghostly mother (Willow Hale) intervenes. In the days that follow, all sorts of girls show up wanting to know more about the trailer. One of them, an artist (Julia Rose Aks), in one of my favorite sequences, tries to force her way into the trailer to live, but Achilles has her arrested. Afterwards, he remains sullen, uncomfortable in his own skin and he cannot sleep at night. Then, he's given a second chance - he finds Persephone (Kirsten Morgan), a dirty, stinky runaway,sleeping in his trailer and this time, he invites her in and feeds her breakfast. She's the narrator we've heard since the beginning of the film and from there the story of trailer treachery, absentee fathers, faithless friends and redeemed ex-wives unfolds.

The acting is uniformly superb. Elyse Ashton does two roles in the film and I didn't note her dual performance until the credits. Will Beinbrink and Kiersten Morgan are both wonderful leads. The film it reminds me of the most is Hitchcock's Family Plot. The story is similar mix of metaphysics and serendipity, with the same kind of well-thought out character performances pulled off by actors up to the task. I love the costumes as well.

Highly recommended.