I found myself thoroughly engaged in this short film. Not a lot of short films do that for me. That takes talent.
I loved the opening scene -- mysterious, compact and setting up a wonderful contrast between the hardcore hooker and the rather nice but mysterious customer. I also love the use of the bedroom mirror, the nice montage showing the hooker at work and the clever, touching way the hooker's other life as a dedicated mom of a special needs son was introduced. There was a wonderful plot twist with the mysterious customer and a sparse but effective depiction of the event that A) contradicted what Zoe (the hooker) said she doesn't do and that B) drove Zoe to accept help from her estranged mom.
In a short time, the writer/director managed to develop three dimensional characters and make them sympathetic. The acting was uniformly excellent with Rumer Willis and Rio Mangini effortlessly carrying the film.
I was rooting for Zoe to somehow succeed without resorting to help from her disagreeable mother who didn't make much effort to remember the correct name of her grandson. The dialog was excellent and very authentic. The story was never heavy handed with the sentimentality but managed in a natural way to elicit my sympathy. And, the editing was lean and well paced. Overall, a very well done short. I hope to see more from this talented writer/director and team.
