Puzzled Love

A light, sitcom-ish rom-com, Puzzled Love traces the evolution of a love match between two exchange students who are living in Barcelona but destined to head in different directions when their year is up. Sun (Saras Gil) and Lucas (Marcel Borr­ās) compete for the same rented room and become adversaries in the process. The problem is solved when Lucas is offered a closet space to live in adjacent to Sun's nicer quarters. Soon, the sworn enemies cease hostilities and begin secretly making love despite a house rule prohibiting roommates from hooking up. But their being drawn to one another can't be denied no matter how hard both Sun and Lucas try to sabotage it. Once this relationship settles in, however, the problem of their time limit starts to become an emotional drain. Sun and Lucas know the day will come when their bond must end—unless there's a way out. With its added meta-humor—including an occasional TV-like laugh track and cuts to a ticking clock heading inexorably toward the end of the affair—Puzzled Love is an engaging, quirky film with an interesting twist: it's written and directed by 13 filmmakers who each contribute a chapter. Recommended. (T. Keogh)