Park Life is a wonderful watch. It is a film about connection and possibilities that draw you into Noah and Medhi’s brief story together. Marco De Luca has conjured a film that increasingly flourishes from one scene to the next – a romance short film that you must watch.

What begins as a meaningless and transactional hookup between Noah (George Turner) and Medhi (Alexander Da Fonesca) soon becomes unexpectedly romantic. It grows meaningful as they wander the quiet streets of London one remarkable night.

Park Life is that moment when you connect with someone, no matter how short the interaction is, you know that you need to see that person again, if only to get a touch more information about them and to see if that spark you felt wasn’t just a random case of the worlds aligning for just a few seconds. Noah is intoxicated with everything that Medhi presents, from his casualness to their hook-up to the easy flirting; he is someone that Noah is certain that he must know more of, even if it means following him.

The natural performances from George Turner and Alexander Da Fonesca help amplify the tone that director Marco De Luca was aiming for, they bounce off one another terrifically well and give us a real desire to see where their story leads us. We see Turner’s Noah pulling out all the stops to keep the interest of Medhi. A tactic we have probably all seen or done when we find someone we must be around. On the other hand, Da Fonesca’s Medhi is as cool as a cucumber. He has most likely experienced someone like Noah flirting with him 1,000 times. Yet this time, he allows himself to open up just enough that he is struck by the man before him, dropping that veil he had up to allow himself to become vulnerable. It’s a wonderful dynamic between the two actors.

One of the added strengths of Park Life is the score by Emmet Daly; the feeling of melancholy reverberates through the film thanks to that piano. Noting how these moments for these characters are typically brief, they can move on with their day as if it were nothing. Yet, it slowly evolves the more the two stay around each other until we get the full scope of the song at the end. What possibilities it signifies could be anyone’s guess. Do they see each other the next night? Or do they leave that one perfect night as it was? We have our obvious hopes, but the fact that Adam Silver and his exceptional script leave it up for interpretation is quite wonderful.

From top to bottom, Marco De Luca’s Park Life is a sensationally gentle glimpse into the possibilities of romance. You cannot help but fall for the connection that Noah and Medhi build over those few hours together. There is a thoughtfulness and magnificent level of tenderness that you do not see much in films anymore, and the couple sweeps you into their fantastic time together like a gentle but warm wave.

★★★★

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