And Then There Was Eve

Savannah Bloch’s directing debut begins with the classic framework of a mystery. Successful photographer Alyssa (Tania Nolan) wakes up in her apartment and finds that she has been burglarized. And her husband Kevin (Jonathan Flanagan) is missing, along with all of the physical and photographic evidence that they were married. The police seem indifferent to Alyssa’s situation, and she faces hostility from her in-laws. Alyssa begins to find emotional support with Eve (Rachel Crowl), a jazz musician who tries to help Alyssa understand why Kevin might have abruptly vanished from her life. The adrift Alyssa connects with Eve and is able to find some comfort in her painful situation. What happens next, however, is anything but connect-the-dots obvious. Johanna Coelho’s cinematography and Robert Lydecker’s jazz score give the film a distinctive visual and aural style, while the chemistry between Nolan and Crowl takes the drama into remarkably mature territory. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)