The main character in Little Death is not a person but a concept: the impact of greedy pharmaceutical companies. Or, if you look at it another way, the main character is a dog. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category, which celebrates entries that defy conventional filmmaking norms, Little Death takes its title from the English translation of a French concept (“la petite mort”), a euphemism for how a person feels post-orgasm. But there’s nothing particularly sexy about the film.
(Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
David Schwimmer (Friends) headlines the cast as Martin Solomon, an overmedicated writer for a TV sitcom with a myriad of mental health disorders. Feeling unsupported by his wife (Jenna Malone, The Hunger Games franchise) and plagued by disturbing visions, Martin feels like his big break is on the horizon when a studio expresses interest in his autobiographical screenplay. But when executives ask him to swap the gender of his lead character, Martin snaps.
At the end of the first act, the story abruptly shifts focus to two characters unrelated to Martin – AJ (Dominic Fike, Euphoria) and Karla (Talia Ryder, West Side Story). Their plans to open a taco truck business go up in flames when Karla’s car is stolen, following the duo on a sleepless night through L.A.’s underground world of drug dealers on a quest to get it back.
Little Death feels more like a package feature, two stories that are different in tone but connected by a shared theme and just one overlapping character, a chihuahua. Martin’s section of the film is overwhelmed by AI hallucinations, with lots of creepy and disturbing visuals. It was curious to see a film lean so heavily into AI technology on the heels of Hollywood strikes against its use. Filled with jump scares and grotesque moments, that first half is decidedly twisted.
The second half is easier to watch, shifting from a psychological thriller to a dark comedy. There is some poignancy to the AI component of the first act that enters the commentary here, particularly the concept that only a computer can create a new face, with the mind of human artists limited by what they’ve seen and experienced. But the abrupt transition of lead characters is a tough barrier to cross, one that seemed to lose much of the audience. While the theme of pharmaceutical ethics with opioids is a valiant source to mine, the film would likely be more impactful with a more conventional approach.
I give Little Death 3 out of 5 brunches.