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Ramzi (Farahd Abdullah Wallizada) hasn't left his apartment building
for the past five or so years. In fact, he only even leaves his apartment
when he has to, like to carry the trash to the chute. Fortunately for him,
he doesn't have to: He's independently rich and can dedicate all his time
to his vocation, painting. Also he's in an online gamer community, which
also eats up a lot of his time. And every now and again when he gets
lonely he orders a prostitute online, not so much for the sex but for the
company and (maybe) conversation, as in fact he doesn't always even
function properly in bed. Not all prostitutes enjoy conversations and
rather get paid just for sex - but young Ana (Megan Tully) does. Now she's
a final year student aspiring a architecture major, and she has taken on
the job to pay off her student's debts, without her fiancé (Sam Morgan)
even knowing about it. It's not that she enjoys having sex with strangers,
but it pays well - but she sees something in Ramzi, and his artistic
streak sure speaks to her. Ramzi finds it easy to open up to her, and he
finds it easy to open up to her. In turn, she tries to cure him from his
agoraphobia, one babystep at a time, with mixed results. It's not long
before she stops charging him, and actually stops by at random hours. And
it's not long before the two of them are having an actual sexual
relationship. But things aren't easy for Ana as well, especially when she
finds out she's pregnant, and eventually being an escort so overwhelms her
she quits during a job. And then there are the scars on her back she gets
angry when anybody even mentions. And of course Ramzi notices them and
inquires about them ... Outside is a pretty impressive drama,
basically a character piece about two very different characters that seem
to belong together rather naturally (as opposed to a "clever"
plottwist), and also a very quiet film moving at a laid back pace, as if
to negate the "big" subjects it tackles. But in the end
everything falls back on the characters, and the two leads do a great job
making them utterly believable and relatable, and together with a subtle
yet moody directorial effort get the most out of the limited locations.
And the fact that the movie doesn't even try to offer any general answers
and leaves things open at the end only helps making this film very real -
and a pretty good watch, too.
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