A young woman is talking to a camera crew and reminiscing about her boo.
Written and directed by Stephanie J. Röst, My Boo is a short and sweet comedy short that plays with a few different themes but mostly is meant to be fun and funny with some good ol’ fashion dark humor. The writing here is clever without being overly so, taking a story with almost just a single character (that we get to see and hear on screen for most of the film) and makes the story interesting and entertaining in how it develops and how she tells it. The writing here works and having the writer and director be the same person also works great as the material is truly hers and she makes the most out of it on screen. The main concept here is fun and clever, it reaches the audience by setting its story in a familiar manner, a sort of reality tv/interview style set-up with basically one character (and a few other faces here and there but most without lines or much else to do than to just be there), telling the viewers a story for the sake of curiosity almost and it works, it keeps the viewer curious about where it’s all going and it keeps them glued to their screen for the entirety of the less-than-8-minutes run time.
The cast here is mostly only Jessica Faust talking to the camera and shows in flashbacks. She has a charisma that is perfect for this role as she keeps the attention, tells her story, manages to be both charm and a bit awkward, and she makes the most of the short run time. Her performance is the backbone of this film, and she makes the most of it. Joining her, sort of, is Justin Oller as Wallace/Justin, a situation that is better not spoken about to avoid spoiling the film. That being said, Oller does good work here and makes the character he has stand out in just the right way. A few more people make very short appearances in the film and they all make it work.
On the style side of things, the décor is lovely here and creates an impression that the lead really does live where she is being interviewed. The décor paired with her wardrobe give her a specific style and it works well with how she comes across on screen and her story that she is telling. This is shot quit well by director of photography George Ellett, giving the viewer that peek into the life of Jessica in the flashbacks and that straight on look in the interview set up. This is quite well done and really helps get the viewer into the story.
My Boo is a strong short film that needs no extra time to tell its story or to grab the viewer. The story is effective, the direction is on point, and the lead performance works just right for the story. This is a top tier short film that should be checked out if screening nearby.
