Dane Elcar writes, directs and films this innovative indie movie that follows a bickering couple with seemingly no end
A plucky microbudget indie, Brightwood is a masterclass in what is achievable with hardly any money whatsoever: just a premise, a couple of actors, and a writer-director (Dane Elcar) who doubles as cameraperson. It’s also an illustration of the limits of the form, because it would be starry-eyed and untrue to claim that money makes no difference to what can be achieved.
We open on a couple, jogging in the woods and fighting as they go. Jen (Dana Berger) and Dan (Max Woertendyke) have evidently been married for long enough to really get to know and dislike each other. She’s listening to a podcast about how to divorce, he’s irritated she won’t take her earbuds out long enough for them to have a conversation, she’s furious about his drinking and flirting and, on top of everything else, he’s wickedly hungover. Their interactions have a painful, circular feeling to them, each loop of their protracted argument landing a staccato rap on an existing bruise. You want to pull them out of it, but can’t. They’re so wrapped up in their own toxic dynamic that it takes them a while to realise they are caught in a loop in more ways than one.
