By: Mariah Thomas
There is a fascinating art to crafting short films. Being restricted on time and usually location and budgets as well, every moment has to count. General Admission is a hilarious example of a short done well. It is perfect as a standalone short film but also holds so much potential to be an incredible full length feature as well.
Kelly (Nina Dobrev) is down on her luck and going through a messy breakup. Her barista recommended a codependency support group for her to begin to work through her feelings. Kelly makes a drastic entrance by arriving a little late and stumbling into the meeting. Kelly is immediately thrust into sharing herself. She retells the story of catching her boyfriend cheating. With little commentary from the group, Kelly keeps unraveling her messy feelings. By the end of her oversharing monologue, Kelly receives the surprise of a lifetime.
This short is largely a Nina Dobrev massive monologue and highlights her talent. The monologue is interwoven with heartbreaking sentiments and hilarious one liners that come as a shock to those in attendance of the meeting and audience. She is able to seamlessly deliver those funny lines in the same sad cadence set early on as the character works through her feelings. The cast also includes the hilarious Cedric Yarbrough, Adam Shapiro and Sarah Baker that further lend to how well the twist lands once revealed.
General Admission was directed by Kaily Morgan Smith. This is the second project directed by Smith and leaves room to grow into more. Limited with time, this film is perfectly timed for an incredible twist at the end. The moments the camera pans to reaction shots from those at the meeting are incredible and Smith makes a single setting short feel much larger. There is a bigger world created and referenced outside of this meeting room.
I thoroughly enjoyed General Admission and would recommend for others to watch it for the twist alone. Between Nina Dobrev’s incredible acting and knowing how much more there is to this story, I am hoping this eventually becomes a larger project.