Is This the Bed We Lie In?: Minimalist Drama of a Dying Relationship

Joseph McGovern’s Is This the Bed We Lie In? finds a couple at a turning point in their collective life as paths seem ready to diverge and the very fabric of their relationship is about to be altered. 

A bottle film, the plot offers the briefest glimpse into the crisis, unfolding at the end of the day in their bedroom. Robert (Joel Blanco) initiates a conversation while still in the bathroom; Jennifer (Constance Reshey) does not respond. When they finally occupy the same space, the mood is not of discord, as in a brewing fight, but something more capable of breaking a heart or two. 

Jennifer wants to find a wider life for herself. Though it is not spoken, there is a note of buried desire in her confession. Perhaps no longer able or willing to ignore the yearning for a different version of herself, of romance with women instead of men (perhaps to Robert, this stings specifically as instead of him), Jennifer is impelled to break Robert’s heart. Co-written by Blanco, McGovern, and Reshey, the themes of the film is the little hell made of difficult conversations, unavoidable cruelty, and the price both parties must pay so that the limbo of restless, feigned living may end. 

Thus its one scene, five-minute plot. Though there is some of that sorrow of La Pointe Courte, the film more easily reminds of Before Midnight, not simply because of time, but because the latter is written between the directors and its lead actors too. 

It leaves much to be desired, but the resonant themes of the film will make it appealing to many viewers, often especially for its stripped down simplicity. The dimmed down lighting has helped evoke not only the time in a practical sense, but also the mood of the story. In its turn, the music, with its restraint and muted force, imbues the film with a melancholia that simply must be faced. Its cause is not going away anytime soon.  

Watch Is this the bed we lie in? Short Film Trailer