Moyé staff was invited to view a private screening of NeverMets, a ‘Before Sunrise meets Jozi apartment prone to loadshedding’ film by Bill Badi and Victoria González. And it was breath-taking and human and inherently South African.
The term ‘NeverMet’ refers to a couple who met online and began dating without meeting in person. This is the lived reality of many people, especially following the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (A little Moyé inside scoop: this screenplay is actually based on a real-life experience of González). However, it is not the only reason as to why it is so easy for the audience to spot themselves on screen. The characters are incredibly human, and the awkwardness of these two familiar strangers interacting for the first time ‘irl’ drips off the screen, having the audience cringing in their seats and falling in love with the story.
The plot, written by the incredible Victoria González, follows two characters who met each other online and began to date. However, as she lives in Cape Town and he is in Jo’burg, they haven’t met in real life. Until now. Under the guise of her work opening an office in JHB, Daria (Leché Joubert) flies up to meet Spencer (Rikus Strauss) for the first time.
By this point, the couple has already been talking for quite some time. We are first introduced to Daria and Spencer through a montage of voice notes (the sound perfectly engineered by Natasha Luttjeboer). But now, Daria and Spencer must interact ‘afk’ - away from keyboard - and things get a little... tricky.
After their AirBnB host (who has quite a bit to say about their situation – played by Bouwer Bosch) leaves, the two are left in the room they will spend the next 12 hours in. The couple must figure out how to act around each other; It is excruciatingly relatable, watching the forced, permissive touching, the shy glances and the jokes that don’t land.
At the start of the film, the AirBnB begins to feel claustrophobic, with cinematography (orchestrated by Mari Schultz) that enforces the couple’s close proximity and growing distance: Cutting the couple in two when they lean in for a kiss or portraying them on opposite ends of the screen. The audience almost feels like a voyeur watching something they shouldn’t. But it is impossible to look away.
The two share gifts, both boasting the intimate knowledge these two almost-strangers possess of the other and recount their stories, often divulging traumatic experiences (catastrophic drunk nights out, past and late lovers). Slowly, the audience witnesses the couple’s increased closeness and trust as the distance between the two gently begins to dissolve, and, soon, they are slow-dancing in the candlelight (loadshedding can add quite the romantic feel). They spend the night together, but the two must face harsh truths and share harboured secrets.
It is almost impossible to believe that this work of art only had seven sets of hands working on it. Incredible lighting, impeccable editing (by Laurnelle Beukes) and acting already make this piece mind-blowing. However, it is the sheer humanity of it that actually takes your breath away; awkward, hopeful, risky, devastating, and kind. It is difficult, watching your actions mirrored back at you, but comforting to recognise that you are not alone. And that is what NeverMetsillustrates; to be human is to love and hope and wish and dare.
I look forward to seeing the two directors, who are actually NeverMets themselves, work together again, as they are a force to be reckoned with.
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