Director and Writer Sean Meehan’s drama is so well written and original I wouldn’t have minded watching three hours of the story of character Cori working her way through her unusual career. Cori Sweeney is an aspiring actress who works for the private company Total Performance. Personally hired, she works with clients to help them learn how to argue and deal with conflict that typically involves firings, and individuals breaking up with their significant others.
Cori takes pride in her job, but she longs to be an actual working actress who can achieve some level of fame that doesn’t require such an emotionally taxing profession. “Total Performance” lives and breathes by the lead performance by Tory Berner, and she gives an absolutely fantastic performance. She’s confident, expressive, and charming, while also injecting an undercurrent of sleaze to character Cori. This quality makes Cori a protagonist who you want to know more about, but won’t particularly like when all is said and done.
While there are a round of strong performances by the entire case, Tory steals the show in “Total Performance” offering up someone who eventually becomes entangled in the webs she sets, and soon must come to grips with her own life choices. Berner is a strong actress I hope we get to see more of very soon. Sean Meehan delivers a drama that’s very out of the ordinary and yet quite compelling right until the bittersweet climax. This is yet another short I’d love to see turned in to a feature someday, as there’s enough material here to deliver a longer form drama and character study. I highly recommend this for anyone in the mood for a drama that thinks outside the box.