June – By JEAN – Short Film Review
June is a must-watch short film that premiered on 6th October 2020. It has been directed by Jean and is written by Natalie Prisco. The film is features two main characters June and Meredith, played by Marissa Jaret Winokur and Alice Callahan respectively. It is seven-minute-long comedy film based on a lunch conversation between the two best friends who are catching up after a long time. During this meetup, June does the unthinkable and ends up destroying her friendship with Meredith forever. There is no chance you will not enjoy this conversation or that the plot twists of this film will not induce a few good laughs amongst you and your peers.
Both main characters of the film possess pole opposite personalities and are leading very different lives. June is an ordinary woman who depends on her father for money and is currently stuck in a financial crisis. On the other hand, Meredith is a dolled up, famous actor who is not only prospering in her professional career but also has a successful marriage and kids with a head surgeon at NYU. These contrasting personalities have been best friends since high school but have not really been in touch for some time until June set up this meeting.
It is clear that June has no interest in Meredith boasting about her thriving personal and professional life as she jumps straight into discussing her life problems. She mentions her bankruptcy to Meredith with the hope that the latter will offer her some financial assistance, but all her efforts go in vain. Meredith resorts to verbally motivating June only and encourages her to solve her problems on her own.
This is June’s cue to bring some other cards to the table. And her cards are shocking enough to stun not only her best friend but also the audience. In the shoebox she carried along to the cafe, June is carrying DVDs of recordings of an embarrassing trip of Meredith that could potentially destroy her career and her marriage. Unashamed and desperate for some money, June threatens to release the videos to the public, press and internet if Meredith does not give her thirty thousand dollars by the end of the day. Funnily enough, she believes she is owed this money because she let her friend stay ‘on her couch’ for two years and paid for her headshots.
Meredith knows what is at stake here. And though she can not believe the pettiness of her best friend, she ends up writing her a check for the said money. Her only demand is for June to destroy all the copies of her tapes. And also never contact her again. June happily takes the check. And in a hilarious closing remark, asks Meredith if she could ‘make it out to cash’. Meredith gives her a scornful look and leaves. This lunch conversation is one of the most interesting ones you will ever see and is something you should definitely not miss.
