The debut feature of writer and director Andrew Walsh takes us into the less glamorous side of starting a new life in a new city. When Eleanor (Olivia Fildes) washes up in Melbourne looking for a room to rent, she’s eager to take the first place she can find. Unfortunately, this belongs to Roy – a disastrous drunk by day, aspiring stand-up comedian by night.
Just as she is settling in to her new place, Eleanor loses her job after spitting in a rude customer’s drink. It seems the darker, more wild parts of her somewhat match Roy’s chaotic energy. The two get on in a friendly manner, despite Roy’s frequent escapades involving drink.
Despite being more of a lone wolf type, Eleanor does make a friend – Matt (Will Weatheritt). They bond over moving the drunk Roy into his bed. Matt also helps Eleanor get a job at the clothes shop where he works. But even after he sticks his neck out for her, it seems she is incapable of taking anything seriously. She distracts the other workers to such an extent that the manager notices.
Seeking further chaos, she pursues a married man named Charlie (Adam Rowland), all the while giving mixed signals to Matt. She eventually shuts him out completely, telling him to back off with no explanation. When the small world she’s made for herself starts falling apart, she heads back to the house only to be dealt one final devastating blow.
Olivia Fildes as Eleanor walks the line between charming and churlish. She seems to fit the stereotypes she so desperately wants to escape. Fildes captures this strange torment. Will Weatheritt and Adam Rowland as Matt and Charlie are both great supporting characters, although the narrative doesn’t give them much room for development alongside Eleanor’s character. Cris Cochrane as Roy is certainly a highlight amongst the cast with his larger than life personality pushing both some humour and some grit into the story.
Andrew Walsh explores the highs and lows of starting a life in a new area, exposing the ideology of “finding yourself” in a new place as fairly false. Instead we see a young woman lose herself amongst a sea of strangers and it begins to seem she doesn’t want to be found.