AFF Preview: A Quiet Little Marriage

Just when you think perfectly blonde, perfectly nice, perfectly married Olive and Dax are about to get on your nerves with all their perfect perfectness, they start acting like normal, insecure people and begin to screw each other over. Per the film’s title there’s not much yelling, screaming or hating even when marital war is being waged, but that doesn’t make the events of A Quiet Little Marriage any less devastating.

The bump in this relationship’s road involves the question of whether or not to have a baby; apparently Olive didn’t take Dax seriously when he said he didn’t want to bring children into this cruel world and Dax thought Olive felt the same way he did. It seems like a pretty major miscommunication for a couple to stumble upon so late in the game, but when life consists of dinner parties, excellent sex and living together in near-boring bliss, it’s no surprise that conflict tends to be swept under the well-chosen rug.

Director Mo Perkins and a capable cast of actors (some of whom you may recognize from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) give this intimate film plenty of emotional heft, with the drama enhanced by subplots involving an ailing father and a troubled, freeloading brother. The scope may be small and voices are only briefly raised, but this quiet little movie in AFF's Narrative Feature Competition might end up knocking the wind out of you.