In the middle of spring 2020, Jenn Ravenna Tran launched a Kickstarter for a short film And Then, which she described as “A Girl-Meets-Girl Short Film Set in Tokyo.” As a backer on Kickstarter I received a cut of the film, which is slated for an Autumn 2021 public release. Now that I have finally had a chance to watch it, I wanted to tell you all about it!

And Then begins with Mana, played by Erika Ishii, who receives something in the mail that reminds her of her time in Tokyo. We then flashback to that time, as she wanders the town, sketching and experiencing life there. Mana runs into Haru, played by Rina Hoshino. The story follows them as they criss-cross in and out of each other’s lives. As the braid grows tighter, they are brought together.

The Kickstarter had stretch goals to send the crew back to Tokyo to film more footage, but the pandemic brought that to a halt and instead the money was used to support the crew who had lost work because of COVID-19.  Ravenna managed with the footage that had been previously  filmed…and we get enough of a sense of place that these establishing shots feels only slightly abbreviated. These shots are filled with the kind of colorful nightlife street scenes one expects from a story about “Tokyo.” I found myself nodding and grinning as Mana walks the streets, wanders into a shrine, or a cafe. Shibuya Scramble, Tokyo Tower at night, Kamniarimon, it’s all the warm, welcome, typical visual shorthand of “Tokyo.” 

The relationship between Mana and Haru works beautifully, even with such little dialogue and a short time to develop.  Hoshino and Ishii do a great job with few words. The only weakness comes at the end, as they part with a finality that simply makes no sense for the 21st century.

I’ve written about this before. When I reviewed Dear Brother in 2015, I referenced a movie called Stella Dallas in which being divorced was a reason why a mother could never see her child again. In 2018, I talked about this kind of disconnect with the end of After Hours. We have communications devices that allow us global, near-instant access, it’s hard to imagine a reason for such an abrupt separation without, say, exchanging LINE info. That said, since this movie is excellent, I will allow this. We will sketch in a subtextual reason that makes their parting more immediate and permanent and we will accept that it exists.

I have rated this story as Yuri rather than as a queer movie because the relationship is not explicitly about queer identity (although they do dance together at reknowned lesbian bar GOLDFINGER in one scene.) More importantly, the “girl-meets-girl” of the title puts this safely into our genre standard. ^_^

As a short movie, it has a pretty substantial feel and it absolutely makes me want to know what happens after the credits roll. That’s the finest compliment I can give a narrative – I want more. ^_^

Ratings:

Cinematography  – 7
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

I’ll of course keep my eyes open for a public release – and I hope, when you are able, you’ll take a moment and enjoy And Then.