Rob Munday
Having spent some time in the therapist’s office myself, it’s easy to see how a bond can quickly form between a patient and this person they’re bearing their soul to. It’s in therapy that you find yourself at your most raw and honest and they’re the person always there to support you in this time of vulnerability, surely it’s only natural a connection will form? Exploring the idea of what can happen when this line between the professional and the personal can become blurred, Ryan Wagner’s 11-minute comedy Every Other Week invites its audience to share the couch with Kevin and his counsellor as their time together “comes to a close”.
Inspired by writer Michael Sturgis’ own experience of being “dumped” by his therapist, Every Other Week is a heartfelt comedy short driven by the back-and-forth chemistry between its lead actors – Sturgis and Jacqueline Wright. Revealing that he penned the script as a “means to understand why” that relationship came to an end, Sturgis explains that he thinks “emotional healing in a therapist’s office is never a clean process” and so found himself intrigued by “the toll that healthcare providers experience while tending to their clients”.
Michael Sturgis as Kevin, a patient who just got dumped by his therapist.
The script is sharp and the humour really lands and a lot of the credit has to go to just how believable the relationship between Kevin and his therapist feels. There are lines in there obviously just for laughs – “I put it up my butt” – but a lot of the dialogue is there to show how deep their connections runs, while also giving Sturgis and Wright plenty of opportunity to shine in their roles, something Wagner placed great importance on in his role as director.
“We wanted to create a sense of style without ever sacrificing the truthful core of our film”
“As much as possible we wanted the filmmaking to support the actors’ performances”, he reveals as we discuss the production of Every Other Week. “Any techniques we whipped out are designed to honor the experience of the characters as they go through this breakup. Our framing often points to who feels powerful in a given moment; changes in tempo reflect changes in a character’s perspective; our score is a window into their POV. This is all to say that we wanted to create a sense of style without ever sacrificing the truthful core of our film”.
Programming comedy for Short of the Week is often difficult because what makes you laugh is obviously so subjective. With Every Other Week Sturgis and Wagner find a real sweet spot between feel-good comedy and earnest emotion, making its selection for our platform an easy decision. If the comedy doesn’t land for you, the film will hit you in the feels instead (it’s hard to imagine anyone not being moved by that “I love you too” moment) and if both hit, you might find yourself caught in the confusing state of craughing (half crying, half laughing) and loving every second it.