WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
How do we look back on that which changed our world forever? You would, of course, like to believe that anything which impacted us so greatly would never be negative (at least hopefully not so) but rather a spark of light shining to remind us of just how glorious life can be, even when the outside circumstances may not be so ideal. It is NYC 2030, and a young woman named Chi (Tina Duong) has found herself in a reflective state. What she focuses on is exactly what it was like being in quarantine during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. But even with the challenges she faced personally and as an Asian-American during those troubled times, one element shattered the negativity–love.
Next, my Mind:
If there was ever one thing I am consistently sure of and more than ever wish to see deeply permeate this out-of-control world we inhabit at this very time (and really during ALL times), it’s love, and this new 8-minute short film from director/producer/editor Naman Gupta, writer Toby Osborne, producer/actor Andrew Ericksen , and executive producer Vijaykumar Mirchandani very much addresses not just that, but also manages to find a means to tackle loneliness, fear, racism/prejudice, and finding your soul mate in the midst and context of COVID-19 NYC.
Enjoying the opportunity to deliver these messages via the film’s world premier as part of the “Pandemic Programming” at the 2020 ECSA: Escapist Cinema of South Asia online film festival presented by Jingo Media and sister festivals DFW SAFF and NYC SAFF, the dramatic/comedic execution and mostly solo character-centric narrative brings about a dimension of timely, relevant accessibility that this critic so much prizes about independent film. But despite all the facets of what we feel as viewers we can relate to here, the uniquely individualistic tangents the story takes on allow the film to travel to deeper levels.
Isolation has been one of the most key aspects COVID-19 has ushered in, and the lead character’s musings about loneliness as her only “company” is very palpably affecting, as many of us can most definitively connect with this, and yet it is handled with both levity and weightiness. Concerns about how we see ourselves and trying to maintain a sense of appearance is also explored, mostly to comical directions, but again, lends a lighter atmosphere to the heavier underlying theme of Corona.
Once the character chooses to leave her small NYC apartment to engage with the real world again, this is where we see the ugly realities of racism and total fallacious, misdirected, and honestly ignorant slurs hurled towards Asian-Americans just because the virus originated in China. I mean, of course this automatically means that every Asian you see COMES from China and therefore is to blame. There couldn’t be ANY chance these are people born of that decent, but right here in the USA, right? What are the chances? As mentioned in other reviews, this kind of blatant bigotry is troubling and doesn’t remotely reflect well on how we as people just judge without knowing all, if ANY, of the facts about someone. It’s something that has to change. Period.
But, how individuals who, sadly, find themselves the target of such hate choose to stand up against it as opposed to being beat down is more what I felt was being looked at here, then showcasing the fact that even when all seems lost, hopeless, and forever UNchanging, isn’t it so often when some of the most beautiful moments occur? This is how the film finds its ultimate foundational core alluded to in its title, because regardless of what other circumstances might be trying to hold us down, feel defeated, or that we’re never going to be seen as we should, all it takes is ONE moment to shatter that concept and radically alter our path. It is the magnificence of open-hearted, open-minded thinking, and I adore how it’s portrayed here because we unquestionable need more of this.
I also found great satisfaction in the idea of Chi discovering this lifetime love outside of her own cultural and ethnic background, because after all, why should those types of other boundaries people try to place on us even attempt hold back an emotion and truth that DOES conquer them all? Duong is a vibrant, plucky, graceful presence in her role as Chi, an Asian-American woman having a moment of reminiscing about how the COVID-19 lockdown in NYC not only impacted her, but did so in both hard and freeing ways. Her attitudes in sharing about the times of isolation and no companionship or interaction with anyone is heartbreakingly understandable, yet her resolute, unflinching manner still carries it with a sense of humor.
Even when she experiences the moments of racial prejudice, she’s understandably shocked yet bounces back from it in her own imitable way, only to then literally bump into someone who will be that light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. It’s just an enjoyably energetic performance throughout, with Duong engaging us the whole way with ease and an affable demeanor that just draws you right in and makes you love and root for the character. Supporting appearances are made by Andrew Ericksen as Andy, the man that will become the new revitalizing element in Chi’s life, Greg Paroff as one of Chi’s apartment complex neighbors, and Rew Starr as a rather “out there” women Chi encounters while out and about in NYC.
So, in total, “Love Can’t Be Locked” down is another thoroughly suitable, apropos film for our contemporary, Corona-infused time that has that oh-so-indispensable target belief and impression to imbue upon a chaotic world–all we need is love, and nothing, including COVID-19, can ever keep that from exploding forth in world-changing impact if we’d simply allow it to do so and guide the actions of our hearts towards ourselves and each other.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
