“Unexpecting,” directed by Kelly Stables

San Diego Short Film Festival
Comedy
TRT 8:54

A “suddenly” pregnant woman (Selah Victor) and her husband (Tony Muscio) navigate a series of birthing-related absurdities that frankly defy adequate description. Seriously – it would take too long to explain the dolphin noises (Eric Petersen) and the mime (Gabbie Fried), so you really just have to roll with it.

There are a lot of comedic actors that you’ll recognize from big TV shows, including Stables, who plays the pregnant woman’s doctor and Kaliko Kauahi, who worked with Stables on Supertore, as a slightly more subdued doctor. Toss in a writer from “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and you’ve got an impressive pedigree.

All that talent shows up on screen. It’s filmed almost entirely with unsteady hand-cam shots that match the energy of the truly unhinged goings-on. The actors have all tossed themselves at the material and there are a lot of expressive reactions at the crazy stuff that’s happening, such as when Victor and Muscio receive a pearl of wisdom from Fried. But is Muscio’s stunned, mouth-agape shock caused by the knowledge he just gained, or by the fact that the mime was talking?

​Very early on, I got a strong feeling that the comedic tone and visual language used here were reminiscent of Tina Fey’s comedies like “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” – the bright colors, the hand cam, the whip-pan transitions, the actors’ nearly simultaneous confusion and acceptance of each absurdity. And even the bouncy music evokes those shows as well. It’s not a perfect ape – the farse here is turned up to 11 and the sound effects are more Bugs Bunny than Liz Lemon. But that’s the definite vibe and it works.

Everyone looks like they had a good time making this film, and that’s infectious.