Little Deaths (2024) – Written Review

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Plot Summary

David and Emily met when Emily was fresh out of college, and their romance was hot and heavy at first. However, with David having limited experience in dating with intention and Emily being so young, both were challenged by their relationship.

What doesn’t help is an epidemic and political turmoil, which complicates the possibility of breaking up, especially as they trauma bond.

Noted Cast and Characters Of “Little Deaths”

Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
David	Adam Leotta
Emily	Kerri Lee Romeo

David

David is a young man, a little older than Emily, who hasn’t dated much and mainly has hooked up with women. But Emily came into his life when he decided to take dating seriously. Thus she becomes one of his first real relationships.

Emily

Emily is a recent college graduate with a liberal arts degree, and she sometimes has mixed feelings regarding her relationship with David. Especially when he loses that appeal, which an older man has and needs to be taken care of.

Content Information

• Dialog: Cursing
• Violence: Nothing Notable
• Sexual Content: Nudity, Sexual Situations (Implied, Explicit)
• Miscellaneous: Depiction of Corpses, Drinking, Vomiting

Review

Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)

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Who Is This For?

•  Those who love complicated relationships

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On The Fence

The Ebb and Flow of David and Emily’s Relationship

With it only being four years since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it isn’t difficult to remember that sense of loneliness, fear, and even desperation when it comes to human interaction. So, watching “Little Deaths” can feel like a stark reminder of all the relationships tested during the pandemic. For whether it is the close proximity for extended times, having to take care of someone at their worst, and them potentially being deadly, combined with a wary sense that you may not love the person you are putting so much effort into? We see it all with David and Emily.

But, what clips the movie at its ankles is that, with the entire film focused on this relationship, you witnessing the hard times, hearing the insecurities and sometimes hatred in each character’s inner thoughts, it lessens your investment in the two making it. This slows down the pacing to the point where it becomes clear that, as noted below, sex is used to compensate for the lack of romance or chemistry meant to help get you to reinvest in the relationship.

The World Building

Though it is acknowledged that there is political upheaval, some sort of airborne disease and the world David and Emily are in is going to hell, there are very few details regarding how and why. The film does its best to deal with this by noting there is no electricity. It also doesn’t allow its characters cell phones, so that is one means of sidestepping fleshing out the world.

And while I get the film is about the core relationship surviving, despite the environment it is in, because the environment plays such a strong role in what could happen, the lack of details becomes frustrating.

The Sex Scenes

While we wouldn’t call ourselves conservative, sex scenes and scenes of violence, we often take special note of how far they go. In the case of “Little Deaths,” which has multiple sex scenes, even to the point of David complaining about the pain of trying to keep up with Emily, there is a need to question if the sex scenes were necessary?

I ask this because, like in the case of “Love Kills,” the passion you see in a sex scene or the extent of violence in a film can often eclipse all else that goes on. That’s what can leave a lasting impression over the writing or non-sexual performances. Are there some exceptions, like “Blue Is the Warmest Colour?” Yes. However, I wouldn’t say there is the balance we saw in “Blue Is the Warmest Colour.”

When it comes to the sex Brian Follmer directs and wrote, it’s somewhere between Gaspar Noe and Larry Clark’s work. The scenes Adam Leotta and Kerri Lee Romeo are intimate in are undeniably tantalizing if you’re on the sexual spectrum that appreciates heterosexual intimacy. However, I wouldn’t say they add to the film or feel necessary. They don’t further the intimacy between David and Emily or help to show there is still love despite all the frustration.

The most critical opinion about the scenes is that they are meant to help re-engage a disconnected viewer through seeing naked bodies, hearing moans, and the depiction of simulated sex acts. It could all potentially act as a cover-up for a film that might be beautifully shot but is missing something to remember it by, sans the sex scenes.

On the other hand, you can see it as Emily’s desperate attempt to remember what drew her to David and use even the most fleeting feeling to make their relationship about more than survival. To potentially turn their trauma bond, or relationship built off familiarity, to one built off passion, and all that seemingly was lost as they saw the worst in each other.

General Information

Film Length	1 Hour 20 Minutes
Date Released	July 2, 2024
How To Watch	Digital Release | Vimeo On Demand (Rent/Buy Link)
Distributor	Bullish Productions
Director(s)	Brian Follmer
Writer(s)	Brian Follmer
Genre(s)	Drama Romance Young Adult
Content Rating	Not Rated

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