Rob Munday

With an admitted obsession with “the leisure class and ennui”, Tij D’oyen’s award-winning short Lollygag takes viewers on a sun-drenched exploration of voyeurism, following a young protagonist whose fascination with the boy next door gradually develops into something more complex. At just ten minutes in length, and infused with equal measures of sex, death, and chocolate, there’s no sense of listlessness about the experience of watching Lollygag. Instead, D’oyen crafts an intoxicating film that blends curiosity, infatuation and social observation through confident and highly assured filmmaking, making it a perfect summer watch regardless of the weather outside your own window.

Voyeurism is, of course, hardly new territory for cinema. The act of deriving fascination from observing the private lives of others has long provided filmmakers with the perfect framework through which to explore desire and control. Yet while elements of sex and sexuality inevitably run through Lollygag, the protagonist’s fixation is one not (entirely) driven by attraction. As she openly admits, “at this point, I already knew that I wasn’t attracted to boys.” Instead, her obsession appears rooted in something much closer to D’oyen’s own stated interests – in the leisure class. The boy next door is no object of romantic desire, but a representation of a lifestyle she envies and so her attention is directed not towards the individual himself, but towards what he represents: privilege, freedom and sexual discovery – an idyllic summer existence.

Isaac Powell stars as ‘The Boy Next Door’ in Lollygag

It’s that distinction that gives Lollygag its novel appeal. When the protagonist asks, “don’t you wish you have a summer lover with a pool?”, the emphasis in that statement feels more on the pool and less on the lover. D’oyen’s message here seems to be one that suggests that being envious isn’t actually aimed directly at an individual themselves, but at the sense of contentment we envision their lifestyle provides. So while Lollygag could easily have drifted into the territory of the erotic thriller, it instead becomes something far more intriguing – a portrait of desire that extends beyond the physical and into the realms of projection and longing. Just be careful what you wish for. As D’oyen suggests, when you step into this kind of “fantasy land,” it may not be everything you imagined. Beneath the surface of the idealised life you’re longing for, you might instead discover something “gross, decaying and rotting.”

Named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2022 – a particularly strong year for Short of the Week alumni, which also included Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Alec Moeller (Empath), Artemis Shaw (Real Talk), and Jorge Sistos (La Oscuridad) – D’oyen originally trained as an actor before moving into directing, citing the “frustration of trying to break out as an actor” as a key motivation behind that transition. Since making the move behind the camera, D’oyen has continued to build momentum despite the inevitable challenges of an independent filmmaking career. His follow-up short, Nepotism, Baby!, screened at both Tribeca and Palm Springs, while a feature adaptation of Lollygag is reportedly in the works.