A man (Cody Clarke) convinces his girlfriend (Chloe Castigiloni) to call in sick and spend the entire day in bed with him. While confining themselves with the condition that they do not actually leave the bed for the day, with some mounting tensions surfacing between the two as they try to work out what to do for the day. This eventually bubbles over into the girlfriend trying to coerce the more complacent boyfriend into talking about their relationship.
Bed pretty much does exactly what you see in the title. It’s about a couple in bed. That’s the entire movie. It never cuts away from the bedroom, we are confined to this room with the two characters. This doesn’t really leave a lot of room for some interesting use of visuals or cinematography, it’s not going for flashy editing or anything. It’s a pretty simple, minimalist story about this couple who start to realise some of the flaws in their relationship. This is more hinging on the acting and writing, and both hold up well. Our only two actors really sell their characters considering it was shot in 10 hours.
I get a good sense of who our unnamed leads are. They feel like real people, from the boyfriend saying “Dude” all the time like it’s a punctuation and the girlfriend having a very expressive, reactive face. She’s a tad more high maintenance and feels more sociable, but that’s only because he’s overly relaxed and adverse to conflict. I appreciate that the movie didn’t really take a side when their communication broke down (literally at one stage). There’s a neutral hand on getting to know these people.
For the most part, I found the dialogue to be natural and character driven. With only two characters it’s a much easier to track admittedly, but it’s also pretty easy to blend their coupley talking together. I think that’s where Bed finds its strength in giving the two such a natural rhythm. While I felt it ended on kind of a strange note, I appreciated how the scenario played out and was reinforced by certain ways the characters talked and related to one another. They even speak over to each other, which helps everything come across are less scripted. It’s essentially a two-person piece where both feels very much well spoken for.
The premise alone can put you off, and there’s really no twist on the idea or anything. The movie is barely under 70 minutes however, so when being stuck in that room starts to wear on you, the film ends. That being said, I didn’t dig how certain scenes are paced. Not the film overall, mind you. Like I said, it ends when it needs to, and there is enough going on with their dynamic and stuff they come up with to do or talk about to keep you interested. I mean the pacing of the scenes themselves. Sometimes they can linger a bit too long and draw out their welcome. I guess that’s inevitable, but trimming certain moments could have helped them land stronger.
Bed is a pretty bare bones piece which I found to be an enjoyable, charming watch. The characters are well realised and both actors bring out a lot in their respective personalities. It’s not the most exciting looking film, but it makes up for that by having an engaging story and a couple that have realistic issues. A quiet, quaint little piece, good for those days when you’re relaxing in your room.
6/10
Bed is available on Amazon Prime in the US and UK
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