REVIEW: ‘The Lovers’ Dives Into The Horror of Expectations

The Lovers, from Studio Heartbreak and directed by Sophia Paez and A.S. Siopao, follows Sara (Vanille Velasquez, League of Legends), a reluctant young chef who has to prepare a special feast, one whose centerpiece is Sirena (Dawn M. Bennett, Dragon Age: The Veilguard), a mystical creature who comes to captivate the struggling young woman. 

It’s amazing what storytelling can do in 15 minutes. In the scant quarter of an hour it takes to watch this short film, the creatives at Studio Heartbreak craft a compelling, engaging, and mesmerizing story. There’s not a single shot or sound that’s wasted as the story drags us into Sara’s world, compelling us to experience her tale. 

Even more impressive is how little dialogue there is for how much story The Lovers imparts. Much of the film is dominated by a powerful piano. The film opens gently, building, breaking, and ebbing with Sara’s on-screen struggle. In the opening montage, as the young chef heads to work, the piano heightens the stress of the protagonist’s life with every key struck. It is as haunting as it is beautiful. 

Studio Heartbreak delivers animated excellence with The Lovers.

As Sara dives into a day at her mother’s restaurant as she prepares for the coming feast, The Lovers employs animation and cinematography that harnesses the stress and building suffocating anxiety she feels in her situation. Only once the film has fully imparted to the audience the pain that Sara struggles under does it pull back the curtain to reveal the cause of her suffering. 

Family is complicated. What we learn about Sara and the expectations placed on her are painfully laid bare. As the music mellows for this reveal, the complications of her life swirl around her. Even her mother, whose words seem meant to defend her, feels undermining instead. The imagery that surrounds her as she walks away from the voices discussing her amplifies her sense of isolation. She is surrounded by a large, dark environment. One that feels ready to engulf her. It is in this moment that she encounters Sirena.

The middle stretch of The Lovers is a mix of alluring energy and terrifying twists. Harkening back to the mythology surrounding the mermaids, Sirena initially lures Sara close, only to lash out at her, biting her arm. The two have an exchange where we learn much about Sirena, including things Sara should’ve already known. 

The ebb and flow of Sara and Sirena’s relationship is intoxicating. 

Just as the music and imagery meshed together to depict Sara’s anxiety and strain, so too does it weave together to present Sirena’s rage. The venom she spits at Sara is understandable; she does plan to cook her after all. However, the presentation infuses the rage in the moment with so much of its lead’s terror at what is happening that the emotions within the moment are steeped in complexity, refusing to become a one-sided affair. 

The surreal sequence of panic that follows Sara as she desperately tries to make sense of her emotions is a masterwork of visual storytelling. As she flails, unknowing if what she’s seeing is real or not, the world shifts in animation styles beautifully, diving headlong into her emotional implosion. 

Once Sara recovers, The Lovers sees its central pair meet again, this time seemingly moments before Sarina is to face the knife. With the mermaid now tied up in a freezer, the two trapped women have a far calmer heart-to-heart about their lives and the pains they both bear. 

The Lovers is not to be missed.

While both Velasquez and Bennett deliver emotional performances throughout the narrative as Sara and Sirena, respectively, it is in this scene that Bennett steals the show. The gentleness and understanding, tinged with resignation, showcase an incredible subtlety and depth to her performance. Even as she accepts her fate, there is a striking nobility in her voice, where just minutes before there was monstrous rage. 

The final stretch of The Lovers sees Sara take her life into her own hands. The choice she makes and the peace she finds there provide a beautiful closing sequence that ties the all-too-short story up with an effortless grace that is as well executed as all that came before it. I only wish it could’ve lasted longer.

The Lovers is an incredibly dense yet easy flowing 15 minute animated film. Its central characters are brought to life by the dual arts of animation and voice acting flawlessly. Surrounding them is an emotional story elevated through the power of music, crafting a tale that leaves no excuse for letting it pass you by.

The Lovers is streaming in full on YouTube.