Ivan Kander

There’s an old adage in screenwriting: get in late and get out early.

Lisa Steen’s The Club feels like a perfect encapsulation of the tenet: an engaging and simple two-hander conversation that grips early and ends before it wears out its welcome. It’s a deft example of performance, witty writing, and strong technical craft all executed in a “short short” runtime.

In screening for this site, myself and the other curators are constantly debating on what constitutes a well-made “short scene” vs a “short film.” I do think The Club skews a bit more towards the former, but in this case, that feels more like a feature as opposed to a bug. Steen, working from a script from Leah Henoch (who also stars), hones in on the part of the romantic comedy that we expect and want to see: the moment where the two charismatic leads realize they are more than just friends and reveal their feelings for one another. And, so while the film is clearly having fun with its various quirks (the Eyes Wide Shut-esque Sex Club makes for an amusing backdrop), at its core, the connection being explored here feels genuine.

Brian McElhaney (L) and Leah Henoch as The Club’s central characters.

It helps that there is a sexy chemistry between the two lead performers (Henoch and Brian McElhaney). The dialogue is sharp, yes, but the performances really bring it home as they trade barbs, fumbling as they attempt to play it cool in such an inherently awkward setting. It’s a set-up that feels ripe for sketch comedy but there’s just enough authenticity and spark in the characters that it somehow ends up feeling like “more” than that.

The film isn’t aesthetically showy, but the craft is solid, taking advantage of its simple cinematic resources (a single location, just a few actors). It also, like a good sketch, saves its funniest visual gag for the end: a perfectly timed “reveal” that makes use of the unconventional setting.

Good romantic comedies are few and far between in the realm of shorts, and as a connoisseur of the sub-genre (I’m always game for a talky relationship two-hander), The Club is certainly worth six-minutes of your time.

Editor’s note: If you like Steen’s work, news of her debut feature Late Bloomers has recently dropped on Deadline.