There’s a battle of the sexes on its way in Old Flame (2022), as is abundantly hinted by the opening seconds of the film. A woman’s screams immediately cut to a video call between a father, Calvin (Andy Gershenzon) and his two young children; Daddy is away for a few days at a college reunion, an event serious enough to require a fair bit of organisation, speech-writing and all. After what seems to be a perfectly loving chat with his kids, Calvin turns to a bit of a boys’ club of a keynote speech; there are other features of his time alone which suggest that he isn’t simply a cut-and-dry family man, of which more anon.
Things get more interesting when, as he prepares the main event room the next day, another attendee arrives very early: her name is Rachel (Rebeca Robles) and it seems that there’s some romantic history between her and Calvin, from way back. This prompts one of those rather awkward ‘long time no see’ chats, where the gap between the present and the past is bridged with a certain level of bravado – primarily on Calvin’s side, true, but not exclusively. Falteringly then, these two catch up: they share details about their subsequent relationships, careers and whereabouts, and decide to meet up again later.
Is this wise? Already the conversation – under Rachel’s guidance – has skirted uncomfortably close to sexual on several occasions; whilst this only adds to the generally fragile nature of their rapport, it seems to be an important way for her to vent, as she discusses things which have happened to her and mattered to her over the years. This in turn brings them both very much up to date, as it seems that Rachel has quite distinct reasons for attending this reunion weekend, which she then unfolds.
Old Flame is not an instant success; it takes time to get going, revving the engine through two distinct acts. Yep, the film uses intertitles to divide itself into ‘Acts’, which, by the by, stays on screen too long and comes with signature music: as ever, it’s an unnecessary tic, a trend which supposes audiences can’t know that the plot has moved on without something to read to that effect. And there’s more. To establish that these two characters are indeed college-educated, the script gives them a certain level of (no doubt deliberate) obnoxiousness, largely conveyed through clunky vocabulary choices (‘hyperbolic’ gets a good run) and long sequences of bickering over student politics, albeit that a lot of the lessons from Gender Studies courses are entrenched in everyday speech by now – but regardless, squabbles about intersectionality are not particularly engaging, even if accurately observed. Similarly, some of the steps towards understanding that Rachel isn’t simply a benign presence can feel quite clunky; honestly, because this is a film with so much dialogue, odds are that not all of it is going to land. However, when the tide suddenly turns, it really turns; suddenly the vibe changes, becomes sharper and surpasses the preamble.
The camerawork supports this shift very well, moving in and in as the distance between the characters – for good or ill – become less and less. Thanks to this, things become almost unbearable in places in an increasingly claustrophobic experience. At the same time, the narrative becomes more interesting, with shifting certainties and – sometimes – sympathies, as each character gives their version of key events. It’s here that the film oh-so nearly has the audacity to really push some of the genuinely challenging and unsettling realities around sex, memory and consent from different perspectives; it does, however, settle back down, opting for a (the?) more expected outcome, because however striking the imagery gets, a palatable resolution which reflects progressive modern mores is a necessity.
Still, Old Flame does all of this and raises all of these talking points in an economical ninety minutes and with a cast of just two actors. Not a horror per se, it is instead a steadily-ratcheting drama with a few engaging flashes of finesse, which go some way towards making up for its issues.
Old Flame features as part of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2022. For more details on the festival, check out their Twitter.