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Two Distant Strangers
View on Wikipedia| Two Distant Strangers | |
|---|---|
Official release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Screenplay by | Travon Free |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jessica Young |
| Edited by | Alex Odesmith |
| Music by | James Poyser |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 32 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $443,050 (all short films)[1] |
Two Distant Strangers is a 2020 American short film written by Travon Free and directed by Free and Martin Desmond Roe.[2][3] The film examines the deaths of Black Americans during encounters with police through the eyes of a character trapped in a time loop that keeps ending in his death.[4][5] Two Distant Strangers won the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, marking distributor Netflix's first win in the category.[6]
Plot
[edit]In New York City, graphic designer Carter James tries to get home to his dog, Jeter, the morning after a first date, only to find himself trapped in a time loop in which he is repeatedly confronted in the street by a NYPD officer, Merk. Merk wonders whether Carter is smoking a joint and wants to search his bag. Each encounter ends with Carter being killed by the police, then waking up in the bed of his date, Perri.[a] In one version of the loop, riot police burst into Perri's apartment, mistaking it for a different apartment because the door number is hanging upside down, and shoot him there.[b]
After 99 deaths, Carter decides to discuss the situation with Officer Merk. Carter tells him about the time loop, offering Merk evidence by correctly predicting what people around them will do next. Carter asks Merk to drive him home. The journey ends without mishap; Merk and Carter get out of the patrol car and shake hands. But as Carter turns to enter his apartment building, Merk starts applauding what he calls Carter's "noble performance", revealing that Merk remembers the previous loops too. Merk then shoots him in the back, while a pool of blood starts forming in the shape of Africa, and says "See you tomorrow, kid". Carter wakes up once more in Perri's bed.
Undeterred, Carter leaves Perri's apartment to make yet another effort to get home. As the song "The Way It Is" plays, names of Black Americans who have died in encounters with police are listed.
Cast
[edit]- Joey Badass as Carter James
- Andrew Howard as Merk, an NYPD officer
- Zaria Simone as Perri, Carter's date
Release
[edit]In March 2021, Netflix acquired the distribution rights and made the film available from April 9.[8]
Controversy
[edit]In April 2021, Cynthia Kao posted a video on the social media site TikTok indirectly alleging that Two Distant Strangers was inspired by a short film she directed in December 2016 titled Groundhog Day For a Black Man, due to their similar plot and their connections with the social media news outlet NowThis,[9] which led to accusations of plagiarism.
Two Distant Strangers and Groundhog Day For a Black Man are both about a black man trying to relive the same day over and over until he can survive a police altercation. In 2020, during the George Floyd protests, NowThis contacted Kao about featuring the film on their Facebook and Instagram pages. The following year, Netflix released Two Distant Strangers in collaboration with NowThis.[9]
NowThis responded to the claims, citing the fact that the film was independently conceived and in final production before they became involved, disputing any connection to Kao.[9] Additionally, Travon Free, writer and co-director of the short film, responded that claims of inspiration and plagiarism are "baseless" and "absurd".[10]
Reception
[edit]Critical response
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.20/10.[11]
Accolades
[edit]| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | April 25, 2021 | Best Live Action Short Film | Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe[12] | Won | [13] |
| African-American Film Critics Association | April 7, 2021 | Best Short Film | Two Distant Strangers | Won | [14] |
See also
[edit]- List of films featuring time loops
- Black Lives Matter
- See You Yesterday (2019), Netflix film with a similar concept
- Day Break (2006), television series about a black cop who is being framed for a murder and is caught in a time loop while trying to solve the case.
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Woke, television series similar in content
- 12:01 PM (1990), Oscar-nominated short similar in content
- "Changes," 1992 song by Tupac Shakur that samples Bruce Hornsby & the Range's "The Way It Is" and lends this film its title[c]
References
[edit]Footnotes
- ^ Carter's first death resembles the killing of Eric Garner in 2014 and the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Travon Free wrote the script in July 2020.[7]
- ^ Alluding to the 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor
- ^ v. 1, ln. 16: "Learn to see me as your brother 'stead of two distant strangers"
Citations
- ^ "2021 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
- ^ Dry, Jude (March 8, 2021). "'Two Distant Strangers' Makes Sure Oscar Voters Don't Forget George Floyd". IndieWire. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
- ^ Menta, Anna (April 9, 2021). "'Two Distant Strangers' on Netflix Is a Time Loop Story With a Powerful Twist". Decider.
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (February 5, 2021). "'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Sean Combs ('Two Distant Strangers')". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
- ^ Norris, Michele L. (April 13, 2021). "Opinion: We're stuck in a loop of death until we address policing. This Netflix short showcases that". The Washington Post.
- ^ "The 93rd Academy Awards (2021)". Oscars.org.
- ^ Pener, Degen (January 19, 2021). "Behind the Scenes of New Short Film, 'Two Distant Strangers,' About Police Killings in America"]". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Rodriguez, Karla (April 9, 2021). "Director Travon Free's Oscar-Nominated 'Two Distant Strangers' Reflects the Time We Live In". Complex.
- ^ a b c Moore, Kasey (May 2021). "'Two Distant Strangers' Plagiarism Claims Explained". What's On Netflix. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ Free, Travon (2021-05-05). "Police killings of Black people are 'Groundhog Day' in America. It's no surprise that more than one artist noticed". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Two Distant Strangers". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ ""Two Distant Strangers" Wins Best Live Action Short Film 93rd Oscars". Academy Awards – via YouTube.
- ^ Khatchatourian, Maane (April 25, 2021). "Oscars 2021: The Complete Winners List". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
- ^ "AAFCA 2021 Winners Press Release" (PDF). aafca.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-03-09.
External links
[edit]- Two Distant Strangers on Netflix
- Two Distant Strangers at IMDb
- Two Distant Strangers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official trailer
- "Joey Bada$$ shakes 'up old trauma' in short film". USA Today. Associated Press. March 10, 2021.
- "Two Distant Strangers Short Film Review". UK Film Review. April 15, 2021.
Two Distant Strangers
View on GrokipediaTwo Distant Strangers is a 2020 American live-action short film written by Travon Free and directed by Free alongside Martin Desmond Roe.[1] The 32-minute work stars rapper Joey Bada$$ as Carter James, a Black cartoonist who becomes trapped in a time loop, repeatedly killed by a white police officer during attempts to return home to his dog, Jeter.[2] The film draws inspiration from real-world incidents of police violence against Black men, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd, framing its narrative as an allegory for perceived inescapable racial profiling and brutality.[3] Free, a former comedy writer making his directorial debut, co-produced the project with financier Justin Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios and distributed via Netflix.[4] Two Distant Strangers garnered the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Oscars, marking Netflix's inaugural victory in the category.[5] However, it faced criticism for its repetitive portrayal of Black death as inevitable regardless of the protagonist's compliance, which some reviewers argued oversimplifies complex dynamics of police encounters.[5] Post-win, allegations emerged accusing Free of plagiarizing elements from Cynthia Kao's 2016 short The Time Loop, particularly the time-loop device applied to racial injustice, though Free countered that such tropes are commonplace in cinema.[6][7]
Production Background
Development and Inspiration
The concept for Two Distant Strangers originated in the aftermath of George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which ignited nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice.[8][3] The film's writer and co-director, Travon Free, drew from this event and the recurring pattern of similar incidents involving Black individuals to craft a narrative allegorizing inescapable cycles of fatal police encounters.[9] Free penned the script in July 2020 over a five-day period, motivated by his observations of persistent media coverage and public discourse on police violence following Floyd's killing.[8] He collaborated with co-director Martin Desmond Roe, whom he had known from their time at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Television, to develop the project rapidly amid the heightened social urgency of the protests.[10] Free's personal apprehensions as a Black man regarding routine interactions with law enforcement informed the story's core premise of repetitive peril, though he emphasized the film's intent to highlight systemic repetition rather than isolated autobiography.[9] Production commenced shortly after scripting, with principal photography completed in 2020 under producers Lawrence Bender, Jesse Williams, and Chris Uettwiller, alongside executive producers including Michael A. Conley II, Kevin Durant, and Sean Combs, who provided financing and industry support to expedite the film's realization.[11][12] The effort was framed by its creators as a direct response to the 2020 unrest, aiming to encapsulate the "Groundhog Day"-like recurrence of such tragedies without delving into partisan advocacy.[9]Key Personnel and Financing
Travon Free served as writer and co-director, while Martin Desmond Roe co-directed the film.[11][13] Producers included Lawrence Bender, a three-time Academy Award nominee known for work on films such as Pulp Fiction, alongside Sean Combs, Jesse Williams, Mike Conley, and Chris Uettwiller.[11][14] The film was independently financed through production companies Dirty Robber, NowThis, and Six Feet Over, with Netflix acquiring worldwide distribution rights in March 2021 following its premiere, enabling a streaming release in April 2021 ahead of the Oscars.[11][15][14] Key technical personnel encompassed cinematographer Jessica Young, editor Alex Odesmith, and composer James Poyser, supporting the 32-minute runtime's efficient production during the COVID-19 pandemic.[14][13]Film Content
Plot Summary
Two Distant Strangers is a 32-minute science fiction drama short film centered on a repeating time loop.[1] The protagonist, Carter James, a Black graphic designer portrayed by Joey Bada$$, awakens in the Brooklyn apartment of Perri, played by Zaria Simone, following an overnight encounter on February 16, 2020.[16] After sharing breakfast, Carter departs to return home to his dog, Jeter.[17] Outside the building, while lighting a cigarette, he collides with a passerby, spilling the man's coffee and prompting intervention by NYPD officer Merk, portrayed by Andrew Howard.[16] Merk accuses Carter of marijuana possession based on the smell of smoke and demands compliance, leading to a physical struggle where Merk shoots Carter dead despite Carter's protests of innocence and attempts to de-escalate.[18] Carter revives in Perri's bed, recognizing the repetition as a time loop resetting to the morning departure.[19] In ensuing cycles, Carter tests escape methods: fleeing on foot results in Merk tackling and shooting him; total submission, including hands raised and lying prone, ends in a chokehold death; revealing foreknowledge of events to Merk yields temporary alliance but subsequent betrayal and shooting.[18] Confrontational approaches, such as physical resistance or verbal accusations of racism, similarly conclude with fatal force from Merk.[19] After 99 loops, Carter discloses the pattern to Merk during a drive, discussing racial profiling and historical injustices, but Merk admits awareness on this 100th iteration, shoots Carter in the back, and expresses intent to perpetuate the cycle indefinitely.[18] The film closes with Carter's blood pooling into the outline of Africa, followed by text listing over 100 names of Black Americans killed in police encounters, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" plays, leaving Carter ensnared without resolution.[18]Cast and Performances
The lead role of Carter James is played by rapper Joey Bada$$, marking his first performance as the protagonist in a narrative short film.[20] [1] Andrew Howard portrays Officer Merk, the NYPD officer featured in the film's central confrontations.[1] [21] Zaria Simone appears as Perri, Carter's romantic interest at the start of the story.[21] [1]| Actor | Role | Contribution Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Joey Bada$$ | Carter James | Debut lead role in short film |
| Andrew Howard | Officer Merk | Recurring antagonistic police figure |
| Zaria Simone | Perri | Initial scene romantic counterpart |
