Adam Banks
It’s perfectly normal to talk to someone once and then never speak to them again. We do it every time we give a tourist directions, or when we accidentally talk to a telemarketer who’s got something unnecessary to sell us. But there are times when you’ve known someone for a long, long time, and the conversation goes dead forever. Maybe it’s an ex, a dead relative, or someone who abused you, and there’s no possible way to tell them how you feel. What are you supposed to do? Go to therapy? Write a letter? Society tells us these methods can be helpful. But what if there was a service that could send a real-life person to your house who would pretend to be someone from your past, someone you could have a real-life conversation with? Someone you could confess to or unload upon without fear of consequence or retribution?
That’s the premise of director Sophia Banks’ Proxy, a sleek thriller about a woman named Victoria who shows up at strangers’ homes and plays the part of someone she’s never been—a “proxy” for someone the customer needs to talk to, but can’t. The woman, played with icy intensity by Australian actress Emma Booth, performs her role as a cross between therapist and sex worker—over a series of vignettes we see her exorcise her clients’ trauma via her performances but, in doing so, endures behavior that feels increasingly ugly and exploitative of her. However, as her facade of composure begins to crack, Victoria reveals her own sublimated issues.
With Booth’s magnetic screen presence, taut plotting from the script (by Booth’s real-life partner, Dominick Joseph Luna), and assured direction from Banks, the 18min film is an enjoyable ride—the kind of slick and propulsive entertainment that is actually somewhat rare on this site, as it feels like a work you’re more likely to catch on TV than at an indie fest. Some of the ideas in the film may not hold up to close scrutiny, but you don’t really mind due to the verve with which the production sweeps you along. At no point in the film’s 16min did I pause to check how much time was left.
Banks and Luna took inspiration from real-life companionship companies that exist in Japan and turned the idea behind “rent-a-friend” services into something more sinister and dangerous.
It also speaks to the appeal and effectiveness of the film’s concept, which is in conversation with a very contemporary notion of loneliness in society. Having no one to talk to, desperately needing to interact with real human beings—the premise of Proxy speaks to the paradoxical issue of being more connected than ever, but also more isolated, due to the loss and degradation of person-to-person experiences in the real world. The service that’s portrayed in the film feels like a near-future solution for the loneliness and emptiness that can result from living a life that is often experienced through social media.
Indeed, Banks and Luna took inspiration from real-life companionship companies that exist in Japan and turned the idea behind “rent-a-friend” services into something more sinister and dangerous. The film is shot in a neo-noir style that is well-suited to the icky situations it depicts and is stocked with creepy, archetypal characters who are morally dubious, disturbed, or in need of a release for their pent-up feelings toward someone that wronged them. The blend is an enormously satisfying watch despite the lingering feeling that the film is a proof-of-concept for something bigger.
Banks on the set of Proxy.
Whether intended that way, ‘proof-of-concept’ might be how the film is ultimately remembered. Proxy is the most recent short from Banks, who is on an interesting career trajectory. She came up via fashion film and commercial work but first emerged on our radar in 2019 with Unregistered, an ambitious sci-fi short that played Tribeca. While a bit blunt in the examination of its themes for our taste, the short attracted industry attention, received feature development interest and got the Australian signed to CAA. Proxy is her follow-up and while it abandons most of the sci-fi trappings and VFX shots of its predecessor in favor of a lean, performance-lead psychological thriller, this proved popular with content executives too, as a deal for a television adaptation was agreed to in 2021 with Anonymous Content.
Development always takes forever though, and Banks has kept busy in the interim by directing her first feature film. After Proxy she jumped aboard an action flick from the producers of John Wick titled Black Site and which was released last year. Starring Jason Clarke, Michelle Monaghan, and Jai Courtney the film is currently available for streaming. Up next? The up-and-coming filmmaker tells us that she is currently in pre-production on a new feature, a political thriller entitled The Dain Conspiracy.