The ubiquity of cell phones and the internet have made long-distance relationships, once an exercise in patience and delayed gratification, into something that seems no different than any other relationship. Most of our communication is done remotely, even with people who live down the street. However, ease of communication doesn’t guarantee a depth of connection, and in truth the sharing of greater amounts of details through video and audio and photographic correspondence makes it even easier for cracks and faults to appear in the flawless facades that we construct to impress those we love.
Much of what makes In Your Eyes — the newest film written by Joss Whedon and directed by Brin Hill — work is the way in which the growing romance of the two protagonists reflects this thoroughly modern paradigm of romance. Mysteriously, yet fitfully connected by shared sensory experiences ever since they were children, Dylan (Michael Stahl-David) and Rebecca (Zoe Kazan) suddenly break a passage through their enigmatic gift and open a line of communication. Even though he is in the sun-drenched midwest and she resides in the snow-covered northeast, the two are able to hear one another’s voices, see what the other can see, and even feel what they can feel. This sensation of feeling doesn’t just extend to tactile sensations of touch or temperature, however, as the two soon realize that they have been there with one another even at their most lonely and desperate hours.
The mechanics of this metaphysical connection or fully explained in terms of mechanics, but not in terms of genesis, and it is a credit to the warmth and humanity of the script as well as the thoroughly winning performances of our two leads that the unanswered questions never bog down the film. Stahl-David imbues Dylan with a kind of winning hangdog attitude, turning the concept of an ex-con from the prototypical bad boy and into a sad and mistreated loner. Kazan likewise does fantastic work with Rebecca, allows this retiring, wounded, and defeated woman to still maintain her strength of character and warmth of feeling. The two of them play so well off of one another despite being displaced by an entire timezone that the skeptical part of the mind never has reason to begin assaulting their situation.
That is not to say the film is without flaws. It begins on rocky ground, following up one indie-folk rock montage immediately with another, and dipping a bit too close into cliche before the budding relationship is incited, saving the film from itself. Likewise, many of the ancillary characters suffer from a lack of dimensions, and seem clearly crafted only to drive the plot, especially Rebecca’s driven doctor husband (Mark Feuerstein). Also, a lot of the comedy or conflict in the movie comes from the two main characters failing to realize that their seeming insanity as evidenced by talking to themselves could be cured with the careful application of a single Bluetooth handset. Small things like this do make you wonder why greater care wasn’t taken to protect the characters from a plot that might play a little too predictable, but again the interplay between Dylan and Rebecca saves the show.
In all, In Your Eyes manages to make a grounded, effective and honestly moving romance out of a premise that on it’s face seems self-consciously novel. The central pair have a lot of fun with the dialogue and their physical reactions to things happening in their heads, and though the film does bring out the third-act mechanics of a dramatic climax, it never loses sight of the fact that the story is only truly alive when Dylan and Rebecca are in contact. This is a minor gem of a film, and not without it’s flaws, but even those that are small and imperfect are also rare and valuable.
In Your Eyes premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and is now available on VOD. Watch the trailer above.