I’m probably going to examine Your Date is Here much more than I need to, but I really enjoyed it, so of course I’m going to look for hidden meanings. Your Date is Here is incredibly captivating when it comes to its premise – a young mother and her daughter playing an early 1990’s styled board game while waiting for the pizza boy to arrive. As the game progresses, it becomes painfully obvious that the pre-recorded sound bites built into the board is the voice of something evil, something that’s been waiting to be released from the game. The whole thing reminded me of a mash-up between Jumanji, Black Christmas and The Ring. It’s a clever paoring, to say the least, but what I got out of it the most was… Quality time between family members is fading. Starting in the early 2000’s, the technology boom really killed inter-personal relationships, and it’s easy to see that angst in our current social climate. With Your Date is Here, spending time with your loved ones can be scarier than spending the night alone.
Another theme I picked up on is that “the dweeb” represents the old fable that you should be nice to everyone, despite looks and appearance, because you never know who they are and what they will become. In Your Date is Here, “the dweeb” is a fictional character built into the board game, which centers around planning the perfect mystery date, and he’s kind of a card that makes you lose the game. It’s savage and cruel, and unfortunately the way the world of dating has gone since the beginning of time. If you don’t have good looks and a ton of money, the majority of potential suitors will pass on you. Obviously, over time, that bad juju is going to manifest into something maleficent and hence “the dweeb” was born. And he’s out for good, old fashioned revenge against any woman who’s wronged him. Patrick Keane is featured as “the dweeb” in You’re Date is Here alongside the short film’s stars Becca Flinn, Dani Tiernan and Phil Haney.
So, yeah, I really liked this one. At first, I thought that it was the perfect length, coming in at six minutes long, but the more I thought about it, the more I want to see it adapted into a feature. There’s so much backstory that’s waiting to be explored, and I want to see what horrors “the dweeb” is truly capable of. Your Date is Here is written and directed by Todd Spence & Zak White with cinematographer Dave Jacobsen, editor Nick Gartner and a board game cover designed by Tate Marshall. What you get with this short film is excellent acting, cinema quality camera work, retro suspense, a mood that’s both quaint and sinister, and one great jump scare. From me to you, this one’s coming highly recommended. Look for it at a film festival near you soon! Final Score: 9 out of 10.
Watch Midnight Video’s Your Date is Here below!
