Enchanting, effervescent and eloquent, as Darius Shu’s Molly comes to a close, Vinnie and Ryan’s journey is only just beginning, and one can’t help but hope that one day we might return to see their love continue to blossom in a vast ocean of possibilities.
In the middle of a row of washer-dryers in a small launderette on a standard British high street, a small fish swims around its converted washing machine tank, looking upon the comings and goings of each customer. This small fish observes everything going on outside its comforting, safe world as the washer-dryers rumble and churn around it. It’s a Molly fish, an all-female breed that reproduces through gynogenesis. In other words, it doesn’t need to have sex to thrive in its launderette home. Outside its tank is another of planet Earth’s wonders, a young human man named Vinnie (Hiroki Berrecloth) who cares for the Molly fish and the laundrette that houses it.
Folding clothes, repairing garments, and keeping the shop clean and welcoming, Vinnie loves his job and the opportunity to observe everyone who enters his world, even if only briefly. Vinnie’s life is quiet yet comforting, and on those benches, as wash cycles spin, he merely observes the kaleidoscope of life around him, just like the Molly fish in its tank.
It’s an average day for Vinnie when a young guy walks in the door looking to wash his t-shirt quickly, yet from the outset, this random meeting feels anything but average. Ryan (Frank Kauer) is confident, talkative, and completely new to operating a washer-dryer. Vinnie does what he always does: supports Ryan with his washing while maintaining his distance. Yet there is something about this boy that makes Vinnie’s heart skip a beat. When Ryan leaves, his stay at the launderette complete, Vinnie assumes he will never see the boy again, but Ryan has other plans.
Over multiple visits to Vinnie’s launderette, the bond between the boys grows, as they laugh, dance and eat lunch together on the wooden benches. Suddenly, the glass surrounding Vinnie’s world cracks as he tentatively asks himself whether Ryan could be the person he has been searching for. However, as their nonphysical relationship moves beyond the launderette and into Ryan’s bed, Vinnie is about to share something that he fears will stop their beautiful, fledgling relationship in its tracks.
Beautifully exploring relationship diversity, loneliness, apprehension, and the first sparks of love, writer-director and cinematographer Darius Shu’s short film captures the first weeks of Vinnie and Ryan’s journey together in exquisite detail. Hiroki Berrecloth and Frank Kauer’s performances are nothing short of sublime, their on-screen chemistry wrapping you in a love story that asks a pertinent question: Are sex and love inextricably linked, or is love much greater than sex can ever be? After all, sex doesn’t last a lifetime, but love often does.
Sometimes, our differences can make us feel like we are swimming in a small tank, mere observers of the diverse ocean outside, our hopes and wants surrounded by an impenetrable glass force field. Vinnie and Ryan’s story encourages us, no matter our differences, to summon our strength and jump from the tank into the diverse ocean of opportunities and encounters that is life. Enchanting, effervescent and eloquent, as Darius Shu’s Molly comes to a close, Vinnie and Ryan’s journey is only just beginning, and one can’t help but hope that one day we might return to see their love continue to blossom in a vast ocean of possibilities.
Molly is screening at Queer East Festival on May 20 at the Rio Cinema. Tickets are available now.
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