Cori's Great Performance

Bruce Von Stiers

In the film, Total Performance, Cori is an actor. But she also has a day job. That job is to role play as a person that someone needs to have a difficult conversation with. The client could be a spouse who was cheated on, who wants to end the marriage. Or trying to gently fire someone who's a friend. Cori takes the client through the conversation so that they will be more comfortable having it. The company that Cori works for is called Total Performance.

Cori has a date with Tim, where she describes her job and things go well. Maybe too well. There just might be a spark there. But then, a set of circumstances puts things in a whole different light.

The first part of the film is kind of light and slightly amusing. Cori takes a client through a breakup conversation and one with the head of a company who has to fire his best friend. And Cori has an audition for a part too. After all, she is an actor seeking out actual roles, in addition to what she does at her day job.

But the second part of the film isn't so light. By the end of the film, the circumstances I mentioned earlier take things in a more dramatic direction.

Tory Berner played Cori. She starred in the thriller, Interius and appeared in an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. Steven Conroy played Tim. He co-starred in the action comedy Big Licks and was a priest in the thriller Sleepyhead.

Anthony Rainville played Rafi, another member of the Total Performance team. He co-starred in Maid Droid and appeared in the horror film Vibration. Phoebe Kuhlman played Lauren, the receptionist at Total Performance. She has played a nurse in This Is Us, Lessons in Chemistry and General Hospital.

Paul Locke played a client of Cori's whose wife has been cheating on him. He played a thug on several episodes of Boardwalk Empire. Timothy J. Cox played the boss needing to fire his best friend. He has portrayed killers, professors, an adult son and even a murder victim.

Caitlin Berger played Annie, someone who is part of the circumstances I mentioned. Other actors in the film were Lauren B. Nelson, Nicole Trauffer and Anthony D'Amore.

The film was written and directed by Sean Meehan. He directed the films Camera Test Subject and 18 Grand: A Personal Space Odyssey. The cinematographer was Chris Loughran. He was the cinematographer for a season of Welcome To My Farm.

Total Performance was funny, yet the last part had a bit of heart wrenching drama. Tori Berner was great as Cori, both with the fun, peppy tone and the more serious, disheartening things.

You can watch Total Performance for free at https://vimeo.com/137139769

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers