In Cerulean Blue we meet Alex, a young, uptight man who enjoys his own company, that is driving from Queensland to Melbourne in his cerulean blue mid 80’s Toyota Corona. But his plans are derailed when he comes across Lily, a young woman who is the polar opposite to Alex. She is friendly, flamboyant and loud. Somehow she manages to break Alex’s exterior and hitch a ride with Alex, much to his protest, and the pair slowly grow closer.
The acting from our two leads in this film is outstanding! Jack Michel stars as Alex and absolutely nails his role as an introverted and awkward young man struggling through life. His opening scene at a petrol station is a prime example of Jack’s acting skills in this film. Senie Priti also deserve as much praise. Her bubbly, friendly and energetic performance of Lily really came across as authentic and real. Together the pair work well, providing a weird onscreen tension that really suited the story and situation they found themselves in.
The style of cinematography for this film was also quite unique, with lots of tight shots that make it feel like you’re actually in the scene, often from one of the characters points of view. This is especially apparent with scenes filmed inside of the car, and I found it helped bring me into the film and drew my attention more. We also have our occasional wide panoramic shot that shows off Australia’s amazing beauty, and who doesn’t love that!?
I feel the only thing that let this film down is the story. To me it just felt a little disjointed and all over the place with some flashbacks and a scene that I’m not sure was a dream sequence or whether it actually happened. The ending of the film also left me feeling a little confused.
I know for sure I will be keeping an eye on writer and director Adrian Ortega, as I believe with more experience, he will be producing fantastic films in the future. I’ll also be following Jack Michel as I feel he will have a bright future ahead of him. Cerulean Blue is a fantastically acted and shot short film, with a run-time of just over 1 hour. It suffers a little from poor writing, but is definitely worth the small investment of your time. Keep an eye out for it at your local film festival!