Review: Two lovers meet up a decade after breaking up in compassionate drama ‘See You Then’

The debut function from filmmaker Mari Walker, “See You Then,” gives a easy premise: a reunion between two former lovers that takes place over the span of a single night.

A decade after their abrupt breakup, Naomi (Lynn Chen) and Kris (Pooya Mohseni) determine to fulfill for dinner in hopes of catching up with one another. Kris has now transitioned and, whereas an excessive amount of their time collectively is spent retracing Kris’ private narratives relating to her gender and sexuality, the pair contact on the frequent and disparate issues of their lives and relationships with equal measure.

Fittingly then, “See You Then” is sharp in its sense of relation and feeling. It understands the intricacies and vulnerabilities at play right here and shapes them with a cautious hand, navigating Kris and Naomi’s private histories and politics with an emphasis on the ever human fault between understanding and expertise. With shades of Linklater, we transfer from susceptible to playful and again, oftentimes inside the span of 1 beat. The movie’s biggest achievement is the convenience with which it traverses the fragile territory of its characters’ lives with out shedding the sense of a previous each shared and fractured in reminiscence.

Very like Kris and Naomi’s reacquaintance with one another — “See You Then’s” opening actions are barely sluggish and a bit awkward. However by the point we attain the movie’s explosive closing scenes there’s an understanding that solely from a historical past of mutual care might such harm come up because it does, fast, sharp and unstable.

Walker has constructed these characters up with kindness and understanding in order that they are able to lastly and absolutely reveal themselves to one another.