Not Your Average Rendezvous

Not Your Average Rendezvous

Bruce Von Stiers

About three months ago, I was scrolling through my social media feeds. I happened across a post that I thought was very interesting. It was about a suspense short film titled Rendezvous. I decided to check out the film. It proved to be as interesting as I thought it might be.

The dictionary definition of rendezvous is a meeting at an agreed time and place. Usually this meeting is just between two people and often times romantically related. But the rendezvous in this film doesn't quite have romance in mind.

DET 4 Films is the production company behind the film. It was produced and directed by Seth Kozak, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was co-produced by Bob Kovacs and co-directed by Damien Villeux. Bob has a highly successful YouTube channel and was formally an engineer in television broadcasting. Damien previously directed the film The Eighteenth Hour. Seth has had a varied career. He grew up in a military family, traveling the world, and was in the military himself for a few years, with postings in combat zones as well as at embassies and at the Pentagon. On the entertainment career part of his life, Seth has acted in several short and feature films and directed and produced a few other films.

The central character in the film is Catalina Wright. She is played by Katarina Morhacova. Katarina's previous on-screen appearances include guest roles on The Blacklist, Bull and Madam Secretary as well as being in several feature films.

The film opens with a man on the telephone. We learn that the man is Zachary Wright, a Congressman from New Hampshire. He is talking about a transaction the occurred earlier in the day. He has concerns about how well the other person does their job. But then he relents and lets the other person know he's leaving and that she will be home alone.

But who is this “she”? It happens to be Catalina, Zachary's wife. But she has plans of her own. She is leaving the house. Catalina tells Chris, a staff member, to make sure the house is secure before he leaves for the day. Does Catalina suspect something's amiss? She has a conversation with Zachary, with him trying to discourage her from traveling. He just doesn't want something to happen to her, to which Catalina replies “neither do I.” So maybe Catalina definitely has something to be worried about.

Mike Sutton plays the husband, Zachary. Mike has been in a whole bunch of short films and been seen in feature films such as The Honeymoon Phase. Francis Jue plays Chris. Although he's been in a lot of other stuff, I remember Francis from his recurring role on Madam Secretary.

There is definitely a sense of foreboding in the way Catalina acts. As she is driving, Catalina is constantly checking her mirrors and looking around. Is it possible that she thinks she's being followed or that someone will try to intercept her?

Tense moments abound throughout the film. From being stopped at a police blockade to a series of apparently unrelated interactions, there are several suspenseful scenes. One of those suspenseful scenes involve a fellow guest at the inn where Catalina stops for the night. The guy, Art, seems to know about her. Or so it seems. Who is he? A fellow traveler or something else entirely? With any good suspense film, you never know what's just around the corner. That is pretty much that way things play out in this film. Many of the scenes project a sense of potential danger. But is the danger real or is Catalina just imagining things?

Chris Kerson is Art. Chis was featured in the second season of True Detective and has seen in films such as Gotti.

Two actors portrayed clerks at the inn. They were Lisa Boucher Hartman and Casey McDougal.

Other actors in the film were Austin Behl, Keith Kuperman, Jeff Pomerleau, Corey Adam Rich, Garrett Voltin, and David Scott Lago.

Rendezvous was filmed at locations in several states, including Maine and New Hampshire.

There is a song that plays during a scene in the film and at the end. It is the Placebo cover of the Kate Bush song, Running Up The Hill. It is kind of moody due to a strong, dark sounding backbeat.

The thing that first brought Rendezvous to my attention was that Katarina Morhacova won the Best Actress award at the 2021 European Independent Film Award for her role in the film. The same festival gave the film the Best Short, the Best Score and the Best Cinematography awards. The film was award the Jury Prize for Best Thriller at the recent Istanbul Film Awards and had a lengthy run at the Flicks Film Festival in London,

The ending of the film had a bit of a twist. Although not a completely new plot element, it was well crafted. In fact, as a tribute to one of the greatest craftsman of suspense, the film's ending credits have an acknowledgment to Alfred Hitchcock.

Rendezvous was a very interesting film. It took a sense of danger and a touch of paranoia and blended it into a solid suspense story.

To find out more about Rendezvous, visit https://rendezvousfilm2019.wixsite.com/rendezvous?fbclid=IwAR3AB9eEsVtGhZmAPcrSas10XHF0dTZFdmbD8Vnle3BDw7NQctDFfD4raRE

The film also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rendezvous.film2019

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