Band Aid

Anna and Ben are married and fight constantly. The dishes, money, work, who said what and when; everything turns into a fight. One day, as an experiment in therapy, they hit on an idea: instead of fighting they will turn the fights into songs. They start playing in the garage and their neighbour Dave takes the drums. The band is good. But what is underneath the fights is not solved by a song. Zoe Lister-Jones wrote, directed, starred in and composed the songs for her first film. Adam Pally plays Ben and Fred Armisen plays Dave. What was most discussed is the crew. Lister-Jones staffed the entire technical side with women; camera, sound, lighting and production were all women. It was a deliberate answer to the imbalance in the industry. The idea is the shape of a fight. The arguments turned into songs are funny and the words do not change; the narrative uses the humour as an escape and shows that it is one. What lies underneath is disclosed late and the tone changes completely at that point. The songs are actually played and the actors handle their own instruments. It screened at Sundance. Who it is for: viewers who like American independent relationship comedy and films built on music. Who it is not for: nobody outside the two develops, the humour repeats in places, and the ending is too tidy.