“Love kills, scars you from the start” – this is what Queen said back in the day, and this song turned out to be an instant classic. This theme became highly popular in art during the past decades, and movies, books, paintings depicting this act of love betrayal, or love as a conflict are looked up by the audiences worldwide. ‘The One I Adore’ is a movie from this category, where love as a mean of revenge as well as an ultimate reason for life is the core of a story that ends in a dramatic way.

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A woman stalks a couple that went on a date. The stalking becomes like a disease, and the stalker is more and more emphatic whilst doing it. The ending is predictable – she, the stalker, ends up in the same room with the couple, and seeks revenge; the really interesting part is right where the movie ends, where the viewer finds out the whole reason of the ‘love struck’.

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What amazed us about this short was the dialogue, and yes, you’ve heard us right. The non-verbal dialogue was more powerful and profound in this situation than in many other films out there where the dialogue should normally stand out. It is really important for the viewer to put the missing pieces of the puzzle together in their mind, and when the missing pieces are the dialogue bits, the result can be spectacular from every perspective. Needless to say, the score was brilliant! When the words aren’t there to make it stand out, Jason Seelmann let Ryner Stoetzer's original score do the work. The result? More than we had expected. Moreover, the three main characters had some very specific moving skills, making each scene look like a well choreographed dance routine they’ve been practicing for ages.

 

‘The One I Adore’ is a short we strongly recommend, mainly for its complexity and expressiveness. It successfully combines the visual power of a postmodern painting with the grace of a Russian ballet performance.

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Written by Vlad A. G