One Bedroom

Veteran film and TV actor Darien Sills-Evans wrote, directed, and costars in this breakup dramedy about a seemingly mismatched couple who may or may not be calling it quits. Sills-Evans plays Nate, a barber/music instructor/college-party DJ who has acquired a reputation as an immature child-man and serial philanderer. His live-in girlfriend, Melissa (Devin Nelson), is a serious schoolteacher whose frustrations with Nate have boiled over, although she’s not entirely been a saint either. On a sunny afternoon, Melissa is moving out; her possessions are being loaded into the back of a truck. That situation becomes the perfect framing device for watching Nate and Melissa argue and reminisce one last time, with more than a little regret, about the past: the good times, the stupid stuff, betrayals, raised hopes, and dashed dreams. The story bounces from moving day, to flashbacks of their early relationship, to Nate’s grievances shared with fellow barbers (they both advise and give him grief). One Bedroom explores what’s holding the lovers back from a real bond in a nuanced manner, even as their individual hang-ups and weaknesses make good fodder for warm comedy. The casting is half the film’s success, with the two strong leads receiving fine support from Stephen Hill as Melissa’s protective brother, Amber Reauchean Williams as her outspoken best friend, and Jon Laster as Nate’s buddy who has a hilariously inflated sense of alpha male authority. Sills-Evans is confident behind the camera; while much of the movie is shot in an apartment, the visuals never become redundant or airless. Recommended. (T. Keogh)