Bokeh
Suppose everyone else in the world vanished, and you were left behind with your current love--would you see it as Heaven or Hell? Bokeh is a supernatural drama about two American tourists--Jenai (Maika Monroe) and Riley (Matt O'Leary)--vacationing in Iceland, who awake one morning to discover that everyone else in the world has apparently vanished without a trace. As Jenai and Riley struggle to understand this incomprehensible event, they also try to cope with a life exclusively in one another's company, forcing them to adapt to both their brave new world and the stresses of their relationship.
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The word "bokeh" is a term used to describe the "way a lens renders an out of focus point of light"; it is generally used as a stylistic device in photography to give more pronounced attention to the object in focus or under scrutiny. Although never actually spoken in Bokeh, the term is relevant on multiple metaphorical levels. For example, Riley is an amateur photographer and cherishes a vintage camera he brings with him, taking frequent snapshots while in Iceland. Bokeh is a film about perspective, which is especially relevant in how both Jenai and Riley have perspectives that become more divergent--their own motivations and desires begin to appear "out of focus" to one another as the film progresses. Things seem pleasant between the two young lovers at the start; although they sleep in separate rooms at their hotel, their relationship has clearly advanced enough that they are willing to travel overseas with one another. Even before the massive swell of light which heralds the disappearance of virtually all other humans on the planet occurs, there are moments suggesting that they have different values and interpretations of the world. One of the more telling scenes before the event is when Jenai and Riley are in a cafe, and Riley talks about why his vintage camera is important to him. He says it is because it reminds him of something his father told him about how the imperfections in the camera film are good, because they speak to its authenticity. This in turn speaks to his seemingly ambivalent, carefree attitude when he and Jenai are alone in the world. Although he comes across as flippant and irresponsible to Jenai, he is resigned that he will not allow something he cannot control in turn control him. Similarly, Jenai speaks of her father's church back home as being bland compared to one they visit with a lovely stained glass window. Jenai is a Christian, but one who ultimately struggles with her faith and her understanding of the world after the event she likens to the rapture. Jenai's crisis is an existential one, although she masks her fear by asserting that she is afraid for their survival. Jenai urges Riley to seek out other survivors so she can feel less alone, and she occasionally takes out her fears and frustrations on her boyfriend, who seems reckless by comparison.
The struggle to survive in the face of this quiet apocalypse is a tribulation--a test to see if they can survive as independent adults when the comforts of civilization begin slowly drying up. In this way, their trial is like that of children who are cast out into the scary, real world on their own, forced to adapt without the security of a proverbial safety net. This harrowing experience strips away the artificial veneer of their puppy love days, and demands that they be brutally honest with their needs and expectations of one another--this is manifested in episodes that are alternately touching and painful. This combination of metaphorical and literal isolation recalls other films about people left behind after some great vanishing, like The Quiet Earth. Jenai and Riley's intimate journey, exploring a foreign city and learning more about each other, is also reminiscent of Before Sunrise, except that unlike Jesse and Celine, Jenai and Riley might actually be the only two people left alive. Bokeh is a film about intimacy, evidenced from the start with close-ups of Jenai and Riley together on a tour bus. Their adventure is depicted as both dreamlike and--at times--like a documentary. Additionally, the voiceover conversations between them reflect the kind of intimate connection a couple can develop--as though they can read one another's thoughts. Ironically, the claustrophobic intimacy of being the only two people left is really a metaphor for the evolution of a relationship, with all the peaks and valleys. Each episode that forces the couple to adapt are like milestones in a relationship. It starts off with awkward anxiety and apprehension, moves into thrilling and liberating excitement at the limitless freedom, but finally turning sour as the sobering reality of their situation sets in, as they discover that their needs are not as parallel as they first thought. Consider when Riley--struggling to keep Jenai's spirits up and keep her satisfied--takes her to an abandoned wreck of an airliner that crashed decades before, something he discovered out in the wilderness. As he takes photos of the anachronistic aircraft that sticks out like a relic, Jenai is only reminded of the world around her--saturated in death--and describes it as nothing but discarded garbage. To Jenai, the carcass of the jet represents her feelings of rejection deep down--in a strange world, never to see her loved ones again back home. For anyone who has been in a long-term relationship--one where it becomes clear that it isn't going to work out the more you get to know your partner--the plot is eerie in its pacing and tone. Riley tries to cheer up Jenai by getting dressing up and taking her out for a fancy dinner by candlelight; despite his efforts, it ends in an argument. As they grow apart, Jenai spends her time in church seeking guidance and riding horses in the hills, while Riley commits to more industrious hobbies, building a water wheel in the backyard of the home they have claimed--simple ways to pass the time and distract themselves from their pain. In a way, Jenai and Riley discover more about themselves by discovering what it is they do not share in common with each other. It is unfortunate that it took the world ending for them to come to this revelation.
Recommended for: Fans of a drama about relationships and the gulf that can widen between people when they become more intimate. Bokeh may be a supernatural film, but unlike most science fiction, the movie is far less concerned with explaining the event than it is with exploring the mindset of its protagonists, using vibrant visual metaphors and a contemplative musical score.
The struggle to survive in the face of this quiet apocalypse is a tribulation--a test to see if they can survive as independent adults when the comforts of civilization begin slowly drying up. In this way, their trial is like that of children who are cast out into the scary, real world on their own, forced to adapt without the security of a proverbial safety net. This harrowing experience strips away the artificial veneer of their puppy love days, and demands that they be brutally honest with their needs and expectations of one another--this is manifested in episodes that are alternately touching and painful. This combination of metaphorical and literal isolation recalls other films about people left behind after some great vanishing, like The Quiet Earth. Jenai and Riley's intimate journey, exploring a foreign city and learning more about each other, is also reminiscent of Before Sunrise, except that unlike Jesse and Celine, Jenai and Riley might actually be the only two people left alive. Bokeh is a film about intimacy, evidenced from the start with close-ups of Jenai and Riley together on a tour bus. Their adventure is depicted as both dreamlike and--at times--like a documentary. Additionally, the voiceover conversations between them reflect the kind of intimate connection a couple can develop--as though they can read one another's thoughts. Ironically, the claustrophobic intimacy of being the only two people left is really a metaphor for the evolution of a relationship, with all the peaks and valleys. Each episode that forces the couple to adapt are like milestones in a relationship. It starts off with awkward anxiety and apprehension, moves into thrilling and liberating excitement at the limitless freedom, but finally turning sour as the sobering reality of their situation sets in, as they discover that their needs are not as parallel as they first thought. Consider when Riley--struggling to keep Jenai's spirits up and keep her satisfied--takes her to an abandoned wreck of an airliner that crashed decades before, something he discovered out in the wilderness. As he takes photos of the anachronistic aircraft that sticks out like a relic, Jenai is only reminded of the world around her--saturated in death--and describes it as nothing but discarded garbage. To Jenai, the carcass of the jet represents her feelings of rejection deep down--in a strange world, never to see her loved ones again back home. For anyone who has been in a long-term relationship--one where it becomes clear that it isn't going to work out the more you get to know your partner--the plot is eerie in its pacing and tone. Riley tries to cheer up Jenai by getting dressing up and taking her out for a fancy dinner by candlelight; despite his efforts, it ends in an argument. As they grow apart, Jenai spends her time in church seeking guidance and riding horses in the hills, while Riley commits to more industrious hobbies, building a water wheel in the backyard of the home they have claimed--simple ways to pass the time and distract themselves from their pain. In a way, Jenai and Riley discover more about themselves by discovering what it is they do not share in common with each other. It is unfortunate that it took the world ending for them to come to this revelation.
Recommended for: Fans of a drama about relationships and the gulf that can widen between people when they become more intimate. Bokeh may be a supernatural film, but unlike most science fiction, the movie is far less concerned with explaining the event than it is with exploring the mindset of its protagonists, using vibrant visual metaphors and a contemplative musical score.