Face 2 Face (2016 film)
Face 2 Face is a 2016 American independent teen drama film directed by Matt Toronto, who co-wrote the film with his brother and collaborator Aaron Toronto. It is presented as a computer screen film, being told almost entirely through a video chat screencast via webcam and smartphone cameras.
| Face 2 Face | |
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| Directed by | Matt Toronto |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Kristoffer Carrillo |
| Edited by | Justine Gendron |
Production companies | Toronto Brothers Green Step Productions |
| Distributed by | Screen Media Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The film stars Daniella Bobadilla and Daniel Amerman as two childhood friends who rekindle their friendship by discussing their lives over the internet to cope with typical adolescent problems, and deals with subjects of sexual identity and incest.[1][2][3]
Plot
Michigan teenager Terrence Johnson (known by his nickname "Teel," given to him because of his inability to pronounce "Steel" while pretending to be Superman as a kid) contacts his childhood friend Madison Daniels, now living in California, via video chat after attempting suicide by overdosing on acetaminophen. The two are on opposite ends of the popularity spectrum: Madison is an "A-list party girl" with a seemingly perfect life, while Teel is a social outcast struggling to make friends and wants to audition for his school's production of Bye Bye Birdie in order to improve his social life, despite his parents wanting the self-admittedly unathletic to participate in sports. Madison convinces Teel to create a Facebook account to help him make friends. While discussing her plan to attract her crush Cole, Madison takes Teel's comment that she looked "sweaty" in a beach photo to suggest he implied she looked slutty in the picture, abruptly ending the call even after Teel acknowledges she looked attractive in it.
The next day, Teel reveals to Madison that Sonny Dombrowski, now a popular jock at his school whom he was friends with as a child, accepted his Facebook friend request, but is recalcitrant about restarting their friendship in real life. Teel later reveals that he got in trouble at school after Sonny cheated off of Teel's test paper, as a harried Madison expresses exasperation with having to plan her father's retirement party. A day after Sonny comes to the house to make amends for cheating, Teel reveals he had been beaten up by a group of bullies, but is reluctant to reveal the reason behind the altercation. After helping Madison do her makeup for attending a function at the school where her father works, using tips he learned from his beautician mother, Cole, who performed a song at the event, asks Madison out on a date. The day after a party where she was to meet up with finds out Cole had sex with her best friend Sophie. Teel tells her that the incident was for the best because she should want her first sexual experience to be special, and assures her that she is intelligent and beautiful; Madison inadvertently reveals she already lost her virginity, but does not go any further on details. Teel reveals, after missing the Bye Bye Birdie audition for a family trip to visit his grandmother, he is auditioning to be the male lead in his school's production of Romeo and Juliet.
Madison, who has now developed feelings for Teel believing that he is infatuated with her, reveals how she feels about him and decides to perform a striptease, which Teel abruptly stops. She is dismayed to learn that Teel wants to keep their relationship platonic. He later apologizes about the misunderstanding and comes out to Madison as gay, revealing he had been beaten up after Sonny and his friends after they found out he and Teel had kissed during his visit days earlier, which Teel inadvertently recorded on his phone camera. Madison suggests Teel start a gay-straight alliance at his school, though he is reluctant to come out publicly; after blurting out that Teel doesn't have any friends beyond her and those he follows on Facebook, Madison attempts to reach Teel for several days, only briefly getting in touch via instant messaging.
After reading bullying comments in a photo of an inebriated Madison vomiting in a toilet at a party, Teel finally decides to contact her. Through handwritten flashcards, Madison tries to tell Teel that her father has been sexually assaulting her since he lost his previous teaching job in Michigan, a secret unbeknownst to even her mother, who had died seven years earlier. She asks Teel to continue watching the webcam stream as her father enters Madison's bedroom to rape her. A distraught Teel calls 9-1-1 to report the incest, though Madison, who is reluctant to turn in her father as he is her only surviving parent, tells the police officers visiting her home that the call was a misunderstanding; she later informs Teel that she can't talk to him anymore. Teel, by now with a much better real and virtual social life, takes his grandmother's car (which was gifted to him by his parents) and some of his father's money, and tells his director that he is dropping out of Romeo and Juliet due to a family emergency, to embark on a cross-country road trip to California to rescue Madison. Upon his arrival, Teel reveals that she helped him out of the despair that led him to attempt suicide, and, as her angry father bangs on her bedroom door, convinces Madison to escape with him through her bedroom window. Madison, now living with Teel and his family back in Michigan, gives Teel a superhero cape in an expression of gratitude for saving her from her situation.
Cast
- Daniela Bobadilla as Madison Daniels
- Daniel Amerman as Teel Johnson
- Kevin McCorkle as David Daniels
- Emily Jordan as Sophie
- Mary Gordon Murray as Sharon Johnson
- Karrie Cox as Mrs. Spiceman
- Nick Reilly as Sonny
- Eric A.H. Watson as Cole
- Sheldon A. Smith as Erik
- Michael Soulema as Sam
Distribution
Face 2 Face was originally distributed by Candy Factory Films who licensed the film to Netflix for a two year period beginning January 15, 2018. Candy Factory Films was eventually acquired by Screen Media Films who currently own worldwide distribution rights for the film.[3]
Accolades
- 2016 Edmonton International Film Festival - World Premiere - Winner of Brian Hendricks Award for Innovation
- 2017 Manhattan Film Festival - Official Selection[3]
References
- ""It's about crafting a story in a way that the audience can experience it on a emotional intellectual & visceral level" - Director Matt Toronto". The 405. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
- "Can We Chat? Teen Problems Percolate in 'Face 2 Face'". PopMatters. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
- "Face 2 Face". Face 2 Face. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
External links
- Face 2 Face at IMDb