Céline Roustan
Kelsey sleeps, works, and repeats – Capitalism 101. Isolated in her ghost kitchen, she’s starting to lose touch with the world around her, until an order shakes her out of that endless cycle. With Order for Pickup, writer/director Jackie! Zhou crafts a sensitive and relatable story, capturing that feeling of being stuck and unable to change a pattern, and how sometimes we go through periods of funk that we have to break out of.
“I was reflecting on my relationship with capitalism and consumerism during the pandemic,” Zhou revealed when discussing the inspiration for the film. They shared that they once unknowingly ordered food for pickup from a ghost kitchen, and found “the idea of a liminal space” like that to be “the perfect backdrop to reflect on the blurry state of existence” stirred by capitalism. While in the food industry, ghost kitchens have a completely different rhythm and atmosphere to traditional restaurants, and despite their growing presence, they haven’t been widely portrayed on screen. Kitchens usually mean teamwork, and in this case, Zhou uses that setting to enhance the isolation of the protagonist Kelsey.
“I wanted to make a film that hopefully can be a relatable beacon for anyone who finds themselves a little stuck in a late stage capitalism haze” – Zhou on the aims for her film
The cinematography of Tehillah De Castro is quite impressive, featuring some beautifully composed shots that work to reinforce Kelsey’s isolation in the narrative. Paired with Trevor Stevens’ edit, they are able to convey the cycle she is caught in, and how repetitive it is, which makes the contrast with the pace of the second half all the more powerful and effective. The tenderness in this part of the short feels calming and healing, with a completely different way of capturing these moments – from the camera’s gentle movements to the unhurried cuts that replace the earlier abruptness.
Choreographed by Erin Murray, Zhou brings hope and love into a dance scene that took me by surprise with its emotional depth. River Song Hiro and Tiger Song Hiro, real-life identical twins, perfectly deliver that scene with their combined movements and facial expressions. “It felt necessary that they could touch and hold and react with each other versus using VFX to achieve this effect”, Zhou stressed. That proximity between them feels palpable and opens the film to its hopeful end, with the phone call that continues over the end credits. Order for Pickup doesn’t rely on dramatic twists or tragedy to captivate; its simplicity and emotional resonance make it deeply relatable and effective.
Order for Pickup travelled the festival circuit during the 2023/24 season, with a notable stop at the Palm Springs ShortFest along the way. Created as part of Season 3 of indeed’s Rising Voices, the film of course counts Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad and Constanza & Doménica Castro’s 271 Films as producers, alongside S/W regular Reef Oldberg.