STEP BACK, DOORS CLOSING
(director/writer: Carter Ward; cinematographer: Jimmy Ferguson; editor: Gordon Antell; music: Paloma Estevez; cast: Carmen Berkeley (Julisa), Reilly Walters (Ryan), Michelle Macedo (Sierra), Ashley Romans (Kesang), Mershad Torabi (Mohammed); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Kathryn Crabtree, Jane Hollon, Carter Ward; Arden Pictures; 2024)
“Delightful modern-day urban 24-hour romance film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Carter Ward was born in Washington, DC and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland. Carter attended Fordham University in the Bronx. In 2015, after graduation as an English Lit major in 2012, moved to LA with an interest in the movie business as a career after getting an internship with an indie movie company in NYC. His debut feature is this captivating and enjoyable indie, in which he directs, writes and produces. It’s a delightful modern-day urban 24-hour romance film, that’s produced by Arden Pictures, a company Carter founded in 2021.
The drama unfolds in Washington, DC. The title is lifted from the announcement on the DC metro.
The 24-year-old newly single Ryan (Reilly Walters), a DC native living in nearby Maryland, who just ended a four year relationship with his girlfriend, is flying home from a funeral in Boston. The graduate student from LA, Julisa (Carmen Berkeley), unsure if she wants to remain in grad school, also flies into DC. She’s there to attend a women’s leadership conference for economic enhancement.
Ryan’s friend fails to meet him as arranged and Julisa is hassled her cell phone fell into the toilet and she broke her laptop when she dropped it, therefore she lost the number to contact her friend Sierra (Michelle Macedo) who is to escort her to the event.
Via a chance encounter on the DC metro, the two begin conversing. Ryan contacts her friend through Instagram. They dig each other and make plans to spend the evening together.
Ryan takes her to a house party in Dupont given by one of his friends. They then go sightseeing and see the WH from a roof. Their inspirational Moroccan-born Uber driver (Mershad Torabi) sings a song from The Man From La Mancha while driving. They next meet Sierra at a bar and find out she lives in Georgetown. They then dine at Martin’s Tavern, where JFK proposed to Jackie, and converse while dining about free will and destiny.
The love story is simple, genuine and entertaining. But, it perhaps could have used more of a plot to make a bigger splash.
The familiar ‘boy meets girl’ story has good production values, intelligent and amusing dialogue, is well-acted and well-crafted, and has developed characters we can root for. This earnest pic is a love letter to DC and a heartfelt love story about two nice people who both still live at home. It shows that sometimes all we need when faced with difficulties in life is a little love.
It has a bittersweet emotional ending in the greenhouse, that wisely leaves it unclear if the couple will get together again despite falling in love and having a one-night stand. Ryan must decide if he wants to transfer his position at Trader Joe’s to move to LA and Julisa must decide in what direction to take her life. As they walk in the park during the day to finish their date, you can almost smell the spring cherry blossoms.
The film was inspired by Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise (1995).” A director and a film I greatly admire.
It played at the Catalina Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 1/5/2025 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com