‘This Closeness’ Review – Kit Zauhar’s Unconventionally Intense Drama

Sharing space is a tough thing to do these days. Every decision you make affects the other people you live with. It’s difficult enough to do this with people you know well, let alone strangers. A newer model of Airbnb and Vrbo hosting brings this option to many looking for cheap places to stay in big cities. Homeowners and renters can rent out the extra rooms in their apartments and homes to people for just a few nights, and they don’t even have to leave to make it happen. They only need to share the common areas without causing them to vacate. Throw a volatile couple into the guest roles and an anxious, antisocial young man as the host and you have quite the recipe for some major conflict. Writer-director and star Kit Zauhar’s This Closeness follows a couple who rents a room in downtown Philadelphia for a few days to attend a high school reunion. Upon arrival, they meet Adam (Ian Edlund), the roommate of the person who originally listed the room online.

Ben (Zane Pais) and Tessa (Kit Zauhar) show up at the quaint apartment a little disappointed. It doesn’t look as nice as the pictures from the listing indicated. The rest of the film takes place in this cramped apartment, with only a couple of visitors here and there to break the tension between Ben, Tessa, and Adam. Within their first few brief encounters, the couple writes Adam off as a socially awkward creep and tries to keep their distance. The way he acts and has set things up in the apartment comes off as standoffish to them, and they don’t want any part of it. The pressure builds with every passing moment the three of them spend together. At various points throughout the story, Ben and Tessa reveal themselves not to be the most considerate roommates in the world, jumping around and having loud conversations deep into the night.

All three leads in This Closeness are outstanding, with Zauhar and Edlund stealing the show. Edlund plays the lanky loner of Adam with incredible empathy, turning him more into a lovable, shy guy instead of the creep Ben and Tessa think he is. Zauhar’s performance also exudes impressive levels of emotion and empathy, both for Adam and in how she carries herself and reacts to spats with Ben. Her relationship with the latter is not as perfect as the first few scenes lead the audience to believe, but she handles their issues with infinitely more grace and poise than her partner. The film leans more into her story than anyone else’s, and more is revealed of who she is and what motivates her.

One of the key aspects of Tessa’s character is her side gig making ASMR videos on YouTube. She’s amassed a small following and is incredibly passionate about what she gets to do. The best sound design in recent memory is found in scenes where she is filming or demonstrating how ASMR works, with the soothing of her voice or the crackle of fingertips on the sides of the microphone tickling the eardrums. It’s easy to understand why so many find these sounds relaxing after it’s been put on display in this movie.

Zauhar’s exhibits some of the most emotionally raw, brave filmmaking of the year in This Closeness. She doesn’t rely on a swelling score, edits, or even camera movement of any kind in the most impactful scenes. The camera sits in one spot for what feels like ages as light conversations turn uncomfortable and tempers flare at miscommunications and manipulative arguments. These are real conversations that happen, and they divulge into disaster just as quickly as they began. It’s clear Zauhar understands the frailty of human emotion and how any interaction can turn on a dime and ruin someone’s day, or even change someone’s whole perspective of another person.

This Closeness is a tight, pressure cooker of a drama that will honestly make your heart race more than most thrillers. It doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable situations or uneasy feelings. It dives into a certain gray area where a touch, a glance, or a word can be taken the wrong way if seen in a certain light. Kit Zauhar has clearly displayed herself to be a multitalented, emotionally aware filmmaker to watch for in the coming years.

This Closeness will debut at the IFC Center in New York on June 7, 2024, courtesy of Factory 25. The film will expand to additional markets in the subsequent weeks. It will also debut on MUBI on July 3rd.