SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL — “Stress Positions” is a film that stars the unstoppable and uniquely hilarious John Early, as Terry. It also stars the incredibly talented and formidable writer-director Theda Hammel. But the heart and soul of this film is newcomer Qaher Harhash, as our “Rapunzel.” He plays Bahlul, a beautiful model from Morocco who also happens to be Terry’s nephew, recovering from a broken leg in the basement of his uncle’s Bed Stuy brownstone.
Terry inherited this place from his estranged husband, Leo (John Roberts), who left him for a younger man and has been traveling through Europe. There is a scrawled sign on the door that reads “Buzz 2 for Apt. 3.” The layout is such that a projector screen blocks the entrance to one of the rooms and the upstairs neighbor/landlord is a constant looming presence now that the pandemic has forced all the bustling New Yorkers to remain homebound. Clutter, decay and sweat feel ever-present throughout the apartment, a staple of most of these old-style, cheaper buildings. The house was best used for throwing raucous parties, as evidenced by almost everything about the space, but especially the strewn-about wigs, the crusty backyard shared by the neighbors and a disco ball the size of a boulder.
The “star” guest, Bahlul, has a rich inner life and complex backstory, but no one in the room with him would know because they don’t ask. Through voiceover narration, we learn that growing up with his mother, he was “sheltered, smothered and adored.” He has always been treated as some prized jewel, a kindness that ultimately stripped him of his humanity and experience. Arriving in New York he hoped to find himself, but instead was subjected to the same kind of isolation and lack of autonomy he felt at home.
There is a lot to love about this film, but many of its lead characters do not fall into this category. They are not likable from the get-go, but it is solidified when Carla (Theda Hammel) waltzes into her friend’s apartment and — during a pandemic — sticks her unwashed index finger into the top of an untouched birthday cake. Meanwhile, Terry is too tightly wound and intense. He is fiercely protective of Bahlul, but it is increasingly obvious that his behavior is selfishly motivated. He has staunch beliefs, but little insight to back them up and attempts to control everyone around him while negating those who don’t benefit him in some way. Early described this type of character as his “bread and butter.”
John Early spoke to Ampersand LA on the Sundance press line and spoke about his admiration for the script.
“[Theda] sent it to me on my birthday in 2021, the most beautiful gift [one] can get. I was so moved. I was crying when I read it because she took this thing that I do naturally in my work, this bourgeois clown, like this gay liberal clown…she took that thing that I do in a very blunt way and contextualized it in something deep and political. I have never experienced anything like that and I may never again. It was tailor-made for me,” he said.
Hammel described Early’s character as someone who is “a master of throwing a bad party,” explaining that he is good at playing an anxious host, always worried about doing something socially wrong. Early elaborated on this, explaining, “I love a character who is trying so hard to not do something, or say something, or feel something, that they end up doing all of those things without realizing it. And he spends so much time repressing and holding it in, and reprimanding other people and policing…the more you repress, the more likely you are to do the thing you don’t want to do.”
This film takes place in a particular time and place: Brooklyn, New York during the summer of 2020. Having lived there during this time, I can attest to the accuracy and subtle comedy found in relating. As Terry is baking while chatting on the phone, he unenthusiastically pauses to bang pots and pans out the window to commemorate the healthcare workers, a practice that happened for several months every single night at 7.
Carla’s girlfriend, Vanessa (Amy Zimmer), is seen making a sign that reads: “F*ck this Sh*t!” as she is about to head out the door to join the protests, which were in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality. Amid the strict quarantine, people came together to march after the horrific murder of George Floyd and so when the 4th of July rolled around, many were feeling especially unpatriotic. To show her allegiance to the movement, there is a bit in the film where Carla — calling it “the resistance” — attempts to burn an American flag out of the apartment building window. While Carla, Terry and Bahlul are chatting one night over drinks, Carla has to abruptly leave due to the city-wide curfew, which was around midnight each night all summer. I will never forget sitting on the roof of my East Village apartment feeling startled at the silence of the city, empty sidewalks and abandoned bodegas, with NYPD SUVs roaming the streets looking for any pedestrians they would have to send home.
Theda Hammel deftly crafted the script so that it can comment on all of these layers without making it ever feel too obvious. Everything circles back to the heart and soul — Bahlul. His existence in their lives is confrontational by nature. Carla is caught having described him as “the little brown kid of [Terry’s] own stashed in his basement,” a so offensive narrative that it is difficult to know where to begin. But there are more muted tensions when Bahlul and Vanessa engage in a discussion where she relates her experience as a Jewish woman to his as an Arab man. This is an incredibly risky route to go down in the script, but ultimately Hammel approaches it in a way that acknowledges the truths found in each of these perspectives without attempting to find an answer or villainizing either perspective.
The power of this film lies in its honesty. It confronts empty liberalism and passive ignorance just as superfluously as it jabs at the absurdity of ordering DoorDash daily while living in an apartment that doesn’t have basic amenities. It has the feel of a classic screwball comedy for a modern audience that will have you laughing in the theater, and then reflecting on your way home.
“Stress Positions” was produced and distributed by Neon.