Ah! 1950’s American suburbia. It was such a simpler time—when people lived happy, quaint lives. The air was cleaner, the lawns were greener, and the gender roles were infinitely more f*cked up.

Pardon my French, but director Eric Pumphrey’s sardonic, twisted domestic drama, Let’s Be Civil, Kenneth! is the type of film that instills an inflammatory reaction. You see, in the United States we harbor a certain nostalgia for times long gone— a belief that the American dream peaked in the times of Ward Cleaver. Kenneth is a film designed to contort that notion—the heightened, macabre reality that exists behind a household’s idyllic facade.

Tonally, this is a film that explores some interesting territory. Starting subdued but slowly escalating to a darkly cartoonish level, its narrative is both disturbing and tongue and cheek at the same time. We watch as the dueling couple explores a litany of topics—from masculinity to social class, all the while biting our nails in fear over how the confrontation will end up. Unnerving, yes, but, also, humorous in the blackest of ways.

This tonal mashup was intentional. Corresponding via e-mail, director Eric Pumphrey writes: “With shorts, I like a little drama, a little comedy and a bit of surreality. That’s what I was going for with Let’s Be Civil, Kenneth! I locked in on the backdrop of 1955 and felt the social veneers/pressures of the era worked really well against the subject matter and dramatization I was striving for.”

But, thematic subject aside, the film’s technical achievements are plentiful. Most obviously, it’s shot entirely in one take. Now, we’ve seen a lot of “oner” shorts pop online as of late, but here, the motion of the camera work correlates perfectly with the action. Starting with a static shot, the camera movement slowly builds as the confrontation between our dueling couple escalates. It’s stylistic to be sure, but at the same time, feels like a directorial choice driven by narrative.

With this film, the single take was especially difficult at Pumphrey and his crew were shooting on film. That’s right, authentic celluloid in a short! As Pumphrey relates, “I’ve never gotten the chance to shoot on film. I felt like this short was the perfect opportunity to finally just do it. It was an eye opening experience on many levels. There was definitely a palpable excitement and anxiety on set – it was a rush. We only had enough film for seven takes and THANK GOD we got it on the fifth take.”

Thank God, indeed. Pumphrey has been cutting his teeth creating a lot of online content over the past few years. However, with Kenneth he’s branching out a bit into darker, more substantive material. I’m curious to hear thoughts of what others think of this film, as it’s definitely one that will incite a reaction—please leave comments below.  Just—you know—be civil about it…