Like You Mean It

A somber tone permeates writer-director-star Philipp Karner's somewhat listless Like You Mean It. Karner plays Mark, a struggling actor and one-half of a once-smooth romantic relationship with musician Jonah (Denver Milord). Subject to anxiety and depression, Mark slowly sinks into a dark hole, while the emotionally stable, upbeat Jonah watches in helpless frustration. A steady visual refrain offers glimpses of the couple in happy early days that sharply contrast with current scenes of strained communication and out-of-sync interest in the bedroom (and everywhere else). Sequences of the pair at therapy sessions suggest more unraveling than healing—no amount of relationship exercises or pharmaceuticals is going to help. Karner sprinkles in revelations concerning Mark's troubled connection with his family-of-origin, but for the most part the film offers a too obvious trajectory of a partnership losing steam. Optional. (T. Keogh)