When I first started watching the quiet little flick 28 HOTEL ROOMS I thought I had put the wrong screener in the player – it definitely felt in the indie film vein, but an American indie film? This was way too explicit and uncontrolled early on for that kind of thing, honestly. But American it was, and I have to say that I agree with the Hollywood Reporter, when they said “you expect to see subtitles when you view 28 HOTEL ROOMS: it's the kind of mature relationship film that the French can do so well…” In short, it's what the average U.S. moviegoer would consider a foreign film, which may sound a little facetious but is totally true.

When I first started watching the quiet little flick 28 HOTEL ROOMS I thought I had put the wrong screener in the player – it definitely felt in the indie film vein, but an American indie film? This was way too explicit and uncontrolled early on for that kind of thing, honestly. But American it was, and I have to say that I agree with the Hollywood Reporter, when they said “you expect to see subtitles when you view 28 HOTEL ROOMS: it's the kind of mature relationship film that the French can do so well…” In short, it's what the average U.S. moviegoer would consider a foreign film, which may sound a little facetious but is totally true.

Unfolding as a collage of 28 stolen moments – some super sexy, some quite innocent, some rather profound, and some frustratingly silly - the 82 minute film is an intimate portrait of an affair in which two people fall into a one night stand that becomes a whole lot more. We followed the two (unnamed) characters as they fall in love whilst in the throes of what you could call sexual intoxication of sorts, and the struggle with guilt and confusion that ensues when the situation veers towards the conundrum of loving more than one person. It is a simple story about a relationship that starts off as a no-strings-attached ordeal, but unsurprisingly develops into something much more like a very normal (whatever that is) coupling, replete with the usual fights, headaches and too many bottles of wine.

 I love the fact that the film pays close attention to the small intimate details of relationships like cheesy inside jokes and the subtle ways that close couples often express affection. It has been said that the pacing done in each room can be exasperating at times, but seriously, a lot of pacing goes on in hotel rooms – when you’re not lying down!

Director Matt Ross is a former actor known for his roles in movies like ‘American Psycho’ and ‘The Last Days of Disco’, and apparently wanted to play the 28 scenes as 28 different little movies. This set up challenges for the two actors but also gave them a huge amount to play with, and actor Marin Irelend has said “during the shoot, we worked with what was on the page, but for almost every scene, we sort of riffed on it too. A lot of the scenes that made it into the movie happened spontaneously and that’s how they always wanted to work. We got some of the best stuff impulsively.” This shows and definitely gives it charm – watching just two people for the length of a movie could get intense, but these two genuinely looked like they were enjoying every minute (as actors, if not as characters).

Her character was my pick of the two (although Chris Messina did put in a solid performance it wasn’t my cup of tea), and I really appreciated the fact that she didn’t play the stereotypical charming and quirky indie female character. “Matt really wanted my character to be a working professional who’s maybe emotionally unavailable to her partner,” Marin said of the role. “She’s the one with a lot of hidden secrets. She doesn’t really want to talk about things at all. Matt was trying to find the flipside to the cute and fun girl you see in a lot of indie movies.”

It definitely effectively show how adultery can evolve as outside troubles and compatibility troubles intrude on what’s supposed to be a no-strings-attached, sex-only affair, and does a great job documenting the petty panic of two people who want to be together but are otherwise entangled as it goes on. On one hand you will feel a lot of frustration and anger because of how they are hurting their respective partners, but also because you just want them to get on with it, damn them!

So in conclusion, 28 HOTEL ROOMS is a smart examination of how every love affair eventually comes with strings attached – highly recommend.

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