It starts with a fart. That’s it. It’s simple. It’s lowbrow, and it works. Somehow, someone likes it. But what does it mean? This is the question we not only ask, but so too the young man (Melvin Gregg) we see wake alone in his skivvies inside a stark concrete room with only a rim of lights on the ceiling, a sink in the corner with a toilet and shower (hidden from our view by frosted glass). That’s it. How did he get there? Why is he there? Who will feed his dog now that’s he’s not home? And who is watching him, ‘liking’ his farts?
Okay, that’s a lot to unpack, I admit, and you might be thinking there’s nothing there that sounds appealing, but hold on because director Ira Rosensweig‘s new film has a few surprises lying in wait. Written by Rosensweig and Benjamin Sutor, Share? makes no effort to hide its intent, the single setting story a clear and scathing treatise on social media, influencers, and most especially, those watching, keeping it alive. Is it original? Maybe not, but it works hard to make its point, and while there are moments that don’t quite ring true for me, there are a lot more that do.
But let’s start with the bits that don’t. And honestly, while I’ll say the opening feels rushed and almost entirely absent of how I know I would react waking up in a twelve by twelve foot concrete room in only my underwear, that’s not to say our unnamed protagonist (identified onscreen as #000000014, though I’ll just call him 14) would have to do the same. It’s just 14 very quickly catches on to what’s happening and lacks the real emotional breakdown I think he should. Am I influenced by the gold standard in film of a person waking up alone in a small locked room with no answers? Yes, Park Chan-wook‘s 2003 masterpiece Oldboy is unmatched for how devastating that might be. But, even putting that aside, there is an acceptance to 14 that comes rather swiftly and that left me teetering on becoming fully invested in his plight.
However … and this is a big however, this is not a movie about being locked in a room with no clothes and no answers. It creates the illusion that it is at its start, but once we realize what is going on, the walls of his ‘cell’ take on a whole new meaning, as does 14’s behavior. Is 14 really trapped? If so, who’s to blame? That’s fun to think about.
You don’t need to pay too much attention to find the answers to those questions because Share? isn’t about keeping secrets or being too ambiguous. And just when I thought maybe I’d got it and didn’t need to see anymore, in comes Bradley Whitford. That’s when Share? sets its hook. And it’s a good hook, a smart hook, and while it might seem Whitford–who is identified as #006395873–arrives only for exposition–outright explaining what is happening–it’s written cleverly and performed with that pitch perfect Whitford sardonicism he so wistfully projects that you can’t help but feel like the movie just ramped up the stakes. Then, when Alice Braga shows up, well, this is a movie that truly gets better the more it rolls forward.
Movies like this, where we stay fixed on a set that never changes always feel to me like filmed stage plays, and I could see how a production of Share? in a live theater would be entertaining. And that right there, ‘entertaining’ is the keystone to Rosensweig and Sutor’s slick script, its criticism of our endless scrolling and rewarding of often mindless content, including our blindness to the consequences, is itself perhaps ironically meant to be amusing to watch. The almost Pavlovian response I had to the reversed indicators on screen, not to mention several audio cues embedded within, kept that understanding front and center. Indeed, when the final frames arrive, I’d wager anyone could see it coming long before it does and more so, know what will happen because we all–not just 14–have been where he is. Or more likely, know who is watching him.
I enjoy a well-constructed satire, especially one that takes on its theme dead seriously. Share? strikes plenty of solid blows that work well, even its internal solution to the problem 14 faces. That gives the film a sharp edge though I’ll admit that it doesn’t always cut as deeply as it could. It’s a difficult balance to maintain I’m sure, trying to portray a world where its characters rely solely on viewer ownership while feeling desperate to be free of it. Share? succeeds in delivering that message even if it it misses the larger emotional target.
Share? is currently screening at festivals and awaiting distribution.