Parasocial (film)

Last updated
Parasocial
Original Parasocial Poster.jpg
Promotional release poster
Directed byJoseph Jeavons
Written by
  • Joseph Jeavons
  • Owen Swift
  • Bala Brown
Produced byJoseph Jeavons
Starring
  • Sam Teague
  • Joseph Jeavons
  • Beckett Nichols
  • Jordan Mook
CinematographyOwen Swift
Edited byJoseph Jeavons
Music byOwen Swift
Release date
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Parasocial is a 2022 American comedy short film co-written, produced, and directed by Joseph Jeavons. It stars Joseph Jeavons as the protagonist alongside Sam Teague, Beckett Nichols, and Jordan Mook. The story sees an innocent and kindhearted college student, Ricky, becoming an accomplice to his roommate, Dylan's, illegal horse meat operation. [1]

Contents

This film premiered at the North Andover Film Festival in North Andover, Massachusetts on August 13, 2022, followed by its screening at the Houston Comedy Film Festival that following November. [2]

Plot

Two police officers, Detective Calhoun, and Detective Charles Black, are on the verge of solving the case of "Masked Horse Meat Bandit," and they have narrowed their search down to a handful of suspects, one of which, is Ricky. Dylan, Ricky's roommate, is aware of the heat on the tail of his illegal meat operation and decides to lay low while convincing his idiotic roommate to do his bidding for him.

Detective Charles Black goes undercover to investigate the two roommates further and eventually infiltrates their apartment. Dylan meets with Ricky in his car and tricks him into tagging along to an alleyway where Dylan is supposed to deliver the horse meat. To their surprise, Detective Charles Black is there too, and the situation escalates into a shootout. Ricky is shot in the shoulder twice and experiences a dream-like sequence of events that are later revealed to have been a result of his blood loss. Dylan deserts Ricky and chases after Detective Black.

Cast

Production

The film began development in May 2022, with a writing team composed of Jeavons, Owen Swift, and Bala Brown. Parasocial was awarded the Houston Comedy Film Festival Fall 2022's Best Student Film Award [2] on November 12, 2022. In an interview with Mikel Fair, Director of Houston Comedy Film Festival, Fair stated that the judges looked past the inexperienced camera work and production quality, and instead saw a comedic script accompanied by a group of dedicated teens working hard and having fun putting together this passion project. [4]

Reception

Richard Propes of The Independent Critic wrote, "Jeavons shows quite a bit of promise with his storytelling and obviously is able to get his cast to have fun with this 17-minute comedy short film." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mia Farrow</span> American actress (born 1945)

Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow is an American actress and activist. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera Peyton Place and gained further recognition for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra. An early film role, as Rosemary in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), saw her nominated for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She went on to appear in several films throughout the 1970s, such as Follow Me! (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), and Death on the Nile (1978). Her younger sister is Prudence Farrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Moran</span> Irish actor and comedian (born 1971)

Dylan William Moran is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Reid</span> American actor and film director (born 1944)

Timothy Lee Reid Sr. is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown on Simon & Simon (1983–87), Ray Campbell on Sister, Sister (1994–99) and William Barnett on That '70s Show (2004–06).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Dylan</span> American film director (born 1966)

Jesse Byron Dylan is an American film director and production executive. He is the founder of the media production company Wondros and Lybba, a non-profit organization. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and TED. He is the son of musician Bob Dylan and former model Sara Lownds and brother of singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Dunbar</span> Irish actor, director (born 1958)

Adrian Dunbar is an Irish actor, director, and singer, known for his television and theatre work. He co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film Hear My Song, nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTA awards.

<i>Death Line</i> 1972 British film by Gary Sherman

Death Line is a 1972 British-American horror film written and directed by Gary Sherman and starring Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, Hugh Armstrong, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay was by Ceri Jones from a story by Sherman.

<i>The Curve</i> (1998 film) American thriller film

The Curve is a 1998 American thriller film starring Matthew Lillard, Keri Russell and Michael Vartan, which premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival under its original title, Dead Man's Curve. It draws on the urban legend that a student will receive an A letter grade should their roommate commit suicide.

<i>Smiley Face</i> (film) 2007 American film

Smiley Face is a 2007 German-American stoner comedy film directed and co-produced by Gregg Araki. Written by Dylan Haggerty, it stars Anna Faris as a young woman who has a series of misadventures after eating cupcakes laced with cannabis. The supporting cast includes Danny Masterson, Adam Brody, Rick Hoffman, Jane Lynch, John Krasinski, Marion Ross, Michael Hitchcock, John Cho, Danny Trejo, and Roscoe Lee Browne in his final film appearance. Smiley Face was the ninth feature film directed by Araki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Dano</span> American actor (born 1984)

Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for his role in L.I.E. (2001) and gained wider recognition for playing a troubled teenager in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). For playing identical twins in Paul Thomas Anderson's period drama There Will Be Blood (2007), he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

<i>Greedy</i> (film) 1994 film by Jonathan Lynn

Greedy is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and starring Michael J. Fox, Kirk Douglas, Nancy Travis, Olivia d'Abo, Phil Hartman, Ed Begley Jr., and Colleen Camp. It tells the story of an aging wheelchair-using scrap metal tycoon whose younger relatives compete to get the inheritance when he dies.

<i>Cotton Comes to Harlem</i> 1970 American action film by Ossie Davis

Cotton Comes to Harlem is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploitation genre, is based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name. The opening theme, "Ain't Now But It's Gonna Be", was written by Ossie Davis and performed by Melba Moore. The film was one of the many black films that appeared in the 1970s and became overnight hits. It was followed two years later by the sequel Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972).

Nottamun Town, also known under other titles such as "Nottingham Fair" and "Fair Nottamon Town" is an American folk song. Although sometimes suggested to be an English song of medieval origin brought to North America during the early colonial era and preserved in oral tradition, and still described as such in some popular works, it is more likely derived from popular 18th and 19th century printed broadsides, with the most likely immediate precursor being the 19th century "Paddy's Ramble to London".

Thomas William Basden is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for co-creating and starring in Plebs, which won the Royal Television Society award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2007 Edinburgh Comedy Awards and is a member of the sketch group Cowards.

Kimberley Nixon is a Welsh actress. Nixon is known for her role as Sophy Hutton in the BBC One period drama Cranford, and appearances in various films such as Wild Child and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. She also starred as Josie Jones in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Fresh Meat and as Sarah Pearson in the BBC Two comedy Hebburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Thomas (actor)</span> English actor and comedian (born 1983)

Joseph Owen Thomas is an English actor and comedian. He played Simon Cooper in the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008–2010) and its two film adaptations, The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) and The Inbetweeners 2 (2014).

<i>Dylan Dog: Dead of Night</i> 2011 American film by Kevin Munroe

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is a 2011 American action horror-comedy film based on Tiziano Sclavi's Italian comic book Dylan Dog, starring Brandon Routh as the antagonisted eponymous and self-aware detective who investigates cases involving the vampires, zombies, and werewolves of New Orleans.

<i>10 Lives</i> 2024 film directed by Chris Jenkins

10 Lives is a 2024 animated comedy film directed by Chris Jenkins from a screenplay by Jenkins, Karen Wengrod and Ken Cinnamon. The film features the voices of Mo Gilligan, Simone Ashley, Sophie Okonedo, Zayn Malik, Dylan Llewellyn, Jeremy Swift, Tabitha Cross and Bill Nighy. The story follows a pampered housecat named Beckett who totally takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt; rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student focused on saving the world's bee population after she looses his ninth life.

<i>The Stranger</i> (2022 film) Film by Thomas M. Wright

The Stranger is a 2022 Australian psychological crime thriller film written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris. Based on the non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer by Kate Kyriacou, and inspired by the murder investigation of Daniel Morcombe, the film follows an investigation of a child abduction case, with an undercover police officer (Edgerton) in a sting operation tasked with getting close to and forming a friendship with the prime suspect (Harris).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Big Pelvis</span> 2023 American film

The Big Pelvis is a 2023 American comedy short film directed and produced by Joseph Jeavons about three fishermen who will do whatever it takes to catch the elusive Big Pelvis before their rival does. The film was co-written by Jeavons and Owen Swift. It stars Joseph Jeavons alongside Jordan Mook, Howard May, and Beckett Nichols.

References

  1. Juarez, Lillian (2024-06-07). "Former Woodrow Wilson student to direct indie short film on Amazon Prime". Advocate Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  2. 1 2 Fair, Mikel (November 12, 2022). "Houston Comedy Film Festival Fall 2022". Film Festival Circuit.
  3. "Parasocial Review | Film Reviews". UK Film Review. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  4. Interview with Director Joseph Jeavons , retrieved 2023-11-09
  5. Propes, Richard. "The Independent Critic - Movie Review: Parasocial". theindependentcritic.com.