It may be tempting to look at the description of writer/director Brian Follmer's Entertainment Squad release Little Deaths and say to yourself "The last thing I need is another pandemic film." 

Hang in there. 

Little Deaths is, in fact, set in a world where a mishandled pandemic sparks a political revolution. A young American couple, Emily (Kerri Lee Romeo) and David (Adam Leotta), escape to a remote jungle village where they find that their previous struggling romance is brought passionately to life by a mutual vow to seek ultimate pleasure before taking their fate into their own hands. 

So, yeah. Little Deaths sits somewhere smack dab in the middle of a sci-fi/apocalyptic romance. 

Somehow, it also works. Little Deaths is centered around a pandemic, however, the film is undeniably an erotic, incredibly intimate romance set amidst a changing world and the unpredictability of those changes. It's a film that reminds me a lot of Travis Betz's decidedly non-apocalyptic Sunday - the storytelling is wildly different, however, both films left me genuinely impressed with how they utilized intimacy, sexuality, and a unique narrative to create an entire world. You can't help but be drawn to both Emily and David despite having very little hope for their unique arrangement. While I certainly won't spoil any of the storytelling here, suffice it to say that Follmer has crafted one of the year's more unique indie narratives and found himself a pretty remarkable leading pair of actors to bring it all to life. 

Romeo and Leotta are both remarkably charismatic and believable within just about every layer of their relationship. There seems to be an inevitability of toward an end partly because of where the two begin their story but also because of where it seems to be going. 

Romeo's an absolute gem here as Emily. From beginning to end, I was fiercely drawn to Romeo's physicality whether she was engaged in one of the film's multiple sex scenes or experiencing her journey in a myriad of other ways. Her closing scenes are absolutely mesmerizing. 

While tonally different, Leotta is equally inspired as David with a performance that aches and seems to cross the entire spectrum of emotion. Both performers are so strong that I found myself rushing over to IMDB to check out their filmographies. 

Little Deaths was filmed over four weeks in the Mexican Yucatan and includes scenes in several Mexican cities. A female intimacy coordinator was used for sex scenes - all the scenes were fully choreographed prior to shooting with a vision of focusing on the female's perspective. It's an approach that is both rare and that pays off quite beautifully for the film's emotional arc and storytelling. David Gordon's lensing is intimate yet also never lets us forget the story's darker roots. Original music by Rupert Stansall beautifully guides us through the film's emotional rhythms without every dominating them. Nicole Alibayof's production design similarly immerses us in the starkness of this world that never really gets defined yet somehow feels incredibly real. 

Little Deaths picked up several awards along its festival journey before being picked up by Entertainment Squad for its indie release including prizes at Sherman Oaks Film Festival (Best Feature Film - Arthouse, Best Performance by a Cast), MIRAban UK Film Awards (Best Production Design), and Canadian Cinematography Awards (Best Feature Film, Best Feature Cinematography). While Little Deaths is likely a bit too much on the experimental side to appeal to everyone, for those with an appreciation for bold, bravura cinema Little Deaths is a film to check out. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic