melodrama of everyday life
by Douglas Messerli
Naïla Guiguet (screenwriter and director) Dustin / 2020 [20
minutes]
At one
point the alcohol dries up for Dustin since the bartender is unwilling to
provide any further free drinks, but the drugs seem nearly ubiquitous (except
when the guards make their sweeps), and finding one another is not always a
treat, particularly when Dustin spots her Félix in a deep kiss and embrace with
a fellow gay boy and, as he later tries to make a drug deal, he wants nothing
to do with her. Raya spends a great deal of energy attempting to convince Dustin
that Félix doesn’t treat her properly, and all four members of the “crew” are
tossed out eventually for being seen with the drug dealers—clearly a regular
happening in their nightly forays into the warehouse universe.
Outside they meet a curious and friendly woman who works in advertising,
Lucie (Lucie Borleteau) and retreat back to her apartment, where Félix finally
meets up with a drug dealer Nico (Nicolas Bachir) who joins them.
When Félix puts his hand on Nico’s leg, the latter quickly pushes it
away, explaining “I’m not into that,” but he very intrigued by Dustin and Raya,
asking quite naively “Are you chicks or guys.” Félix believes the question to
be offensive because of his friends’ complaints in the past, but Dustin and
Raya are perfectly ready to answer that question coming as it does out of true
curiosity instead of an outright dismissal of them. Raya answers, “Oh my God.
Everything, honey. We’re queens.” Dustin suggests, “It’s good that he asked.
He’s right actually.” Her answer is at the center of this strange series of
episodes: “Let’s say it’s a good day when everyone calls me Miss.”
Things turn hostile when Félix begins to complain that Dustin is
“hitting on” Nico, she mentioning that she has seen him with the guy by the
toilets. He complains of her nagging. And reminds her at one point that he is,
after all, gay.
They continue to drink. Lucie and Juan seem to get it on, while Dustin
overhears Raya and Félix talking about her and their lack of sexual
intercourse, Raya providing him with more than a little sympathy. Dustin
returns to the living room and has sex with Nico. Seeing Félix after, asleep
upstairs, she gently covers him with a blanket.
Out of beer, Dustin heads off to the local grocery, buying a few pints,
the elderly shop clerk greeting her with “Goodbye, Miss,” which brings the
first smile of the film to her face, a smile she carries with her as she walks
down the street.
If there is no story here, it is because this short work of cinema is
truly a clip directly out of these individual’s lives. Everything happens where
we might see nothing, and where they perceive nothing special occurring, we
observe the melodrama of their lives.
Los Angeles, January 10, 2023 | Reprinted from World Cinema Review (January 2023).
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