This Really Happened

Based on a true story, strangers Kate and Zoe learn an embarrassing truth — they have been dating the same “boy.” In an attempt to reclaim their power, the women team up for a payback project where they expose “Boy’s” lies on film with a series of interviews and flashbacks describing their experiences. The question is, will digging up the past be more painful than it is powerful? Director Emily Cohn and writers and stars Olivia AbiAssi and Kallen Prosterman examine the fallout of infidelity in their comedic short film This Really Happened, landing at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.

The Cure for Loneliness

According to The New York Times, loneliness is an epidemic, exacerbated by a global pandemic that transformed the “city that never sleeps” into a barren nothingness, separating humanity from itself. Cities like New York traded in their bustling streets for a desolate landscape that wound up severing human connections in a place where human connections were previously unavoidable. But COVID-19 wasn’t completely to blame; even before the mandated shutdowns, urban areas often fostered a sense of isolation for their residents. The bar scene can lose its allure as you get further away from the date on your I.D. and swiping through endless dating profiles only adds to the desperation to find that perfect fish in a polluted sea. Dating apps seemed like the likely cure for this epidemic, as they are conveniently tucked into our mobile world, just waiting to swipe for love. In our efforts to make the search more convenient, we have diluted the charm of chance encounters; the organic meet-cute is now as outdated as one light town. Delving deeper into a common struggle within the dating realm, Kate (Kallen Prosterman) and Zoe’s (Olivia AbiAssi) stories with “Boy” will resonate with many who have faced similar challenges. As the narrative in their revenge film takes form, the two women, bound by circumstance, highlight “Boy’s” warning signs as one overlooked red flag after another.

“Maybe a loneliness epidemic is a bunch of people who forgot how to be with one another.”

The film opens on the two women – Kate, an actress living and working in New York City, and Zoe, a Jewish stand-up comedian from Austin now living in Brooklyn – both sitting down to make a record of their experiences with dating a liar. It all starts with “he was charming,” Kate says, as we flashback to an emotionally intelligent dream, “Boy” (Abubakr Ali), who sweeps the women—separately and secretively—off of their feet. Everything about “Boy” seems perfect: he has so many interests and all of them are curated for an invitation into the women’s beds. As the dates turn into relationships, both women fall deeper into “Boy” and his lies, leaning into all those catfishing stories that make you hover your finger over your dating apps contemplating deletion. “Boy” puts a face (not a name due to legal reasons) on shared trauma as the two women question whether this payback film they’re creating can erase their shame and heal their hearts.

If loneliness is truly an epidemic, then the cure seems to be humans expanding their interests and listening skills. It is no wonder that the actor and writer searching for her big theater break and the Texas-born, Brooklyn-based comedian touring venues in the basements of Bed Stuy are instantly attracted to a man who shares their passions. What is surprising is how these worldly women, well-educated and traveled-savvy and not easily duped, New Yorkers, spend months trading in “Boy’s” red flags for the less toxic and easily excusable green, when it was obvious to both women that things about him just weren’t adding up. With Kate, “Boy” was able to catch her attention with their shared passion for theater. Kate is a struggling actress, and “Boy” is an understudy on Broadway who has a deep respect for Barbra Streisand and remembers Kate from her college audition—the same school he attended. When “Boy” shows an interest in Zoe at a party, which she calls “the vintage way” of meeting someone, he makes an effort to put his plans on hold to catch one of her shows after diving deeply into their backgrounds. “Boy” is sharp-witted and also an Austin native—or so he claims, making him seem like the perfect mate for the Brooklyn comic. He can be anything these women want him to be, right down to sharing Zoe’s love of Austin’s favorite hot spots and Kate’s love of Tennesse Williams. His tastes and experiences are molded by whatever helps advance the con, and the two women become instantly smitten. And while he might be a master fisherman of cats, juggling his lies and keeping track of what he told who needs work. The big two-timing reveal happens in a less-than-surprising way, leaving both women with a choice: embrace that loneliness epidemic or film a double-team revenge short. After the women admit in an interview that catching him in the act still wasn’t enough to end their relationships right away, Zoe and Kate’s shame is what ultimately leads them to air “Boy’s” dirty laundry on film.

Dry those tears with laughter.

Through bravery and self-determination to educate others in the dating pool, writers and stars Prosterman and AbiAssi, along with director Emily Cohn, deliver a quirky short that’s as funny as it is timely. By tackling the world of online dating, this short takes the blinders off of the blind date by pointing out the red flags and all the ways to spot them. It’s as tutorial as it is full of embarrassing admissions—these relationships continued long after their spoiled date, but it’s the dialogue that captures the viewer’s attention. Bouncing between flashbacks and interviews, Cohn seamlessly weaves the past and present into a tapestry of moments where each character breaking the fourth wall gets their points across. Every time Kate or Zoe beats back one of the “Boy” red flags, it turns the film into an interactive experience where the viewer already knows the outcome of these relationships, so they can laugh knowing everything worked out okay for the women in the end. Also adding to the realness of this watch is the montage of swipes through one horrible date after another. It’s a hysterical merry-go-round of disappointment that many viewers should recognize. Whether or not the answer to loneliness is, according to Kate’s monologue,  a return to humans knowing how to be together, one thing is certain: out of tragedy comes perception, and both Zoe and Kate have a clearer picture of the lies people like “Boy” tell.

If you have ever been a victim of catfishing or had your heart ripped to shreds by infidelity and shame for allowing it to continue and need a laugh and a bit of inspiration, check out This Really Happened. If anything, it will teach you how to capture green flags only to cure those lonely nights in the city.