Fool’s Game: Marriage and Its Many Excesses

Laurence Roberts’s Fool’s Game takes what is already a generally stressful affair (hosting a dinner with old peers) and cranks it up a few notches. In the span of 15 minutes, the film unravels about two decades of accumulating disappointment and resentment that comes part and parcel with becoming adults in bad systems, and all the sparkling facades that need to be erected to take off the edge. 

The result works wonders because, but not only because, of its cast. Lora Burke and Jordan Duarte play Ava and Peter, still adjusting to life as parents and about to host their old friend and his wife for the first time in years; Angela Bell (also the screenwriter) and Fuad Ahmed are Sam and Matt, described as a power couple, coasting on the tide of their high profile careers—something that causes more than a little self-consciousness for the middle-class, professionally humbler Ava and Peter. As the evening wears on, things take a turn for the worse, and then some more. On paper, the fact that the film runs a chess game in parallel to make the shifting dynamics obvious seems like overkill. However, the camerawork, props, and editing efficiently build up a sense of violent dread that just does not show as well amidst the friendly conversation and politeness. 

Burke and Bell stand out, especially while the storm is still brewing. Phones keep pinging, people keep leaving the table, and one too many tense topics pop up. The writing strikes a refreshing balance between keeping some of the mystery intact and leaving clues for the audience to guess where the evening may be headed. While the conclusion pales in comparison to the buildup, it leaves the audience thinking. Near its end, the film includes shots of the baby watching the unfolding drama. It adds little to the plot itself, yet her presence brings a different, new kind of discomfort to the disastrous dinner, rather akin to opening a drawer in a musty house. 

Fool’s Game plays with multiple, interrelated ideas that are not exactly new but it is their execution that makes it worthwhile. It even manages to take the overkill idea and have it make all the difference. 

Watch Fool’s Game Short Film Trailer