With time you come to expect the same generic romance story which always ends in one finding one’s ‘true love’ and living happily ever after in a perfect little cul-de-sac far, far away. Rarely is it that you come across a film of this style brave enough to challenge those boundaries and seek more original ways to entice its audience. From the title, you’d expect ‘Three Words’ to be the former: another timid, sickly-sweet attempt at capturing the nation’s hearts with the words “I love you”. Alas for Kate, the female protagonist, this is not to be as her messy, rude, smoker of a boyfriend doesn’t quite cut the traditional picture of Prince Charming.
Aimed directly at the modern teen, this edgy yet somewhat-comfortingly-familiar tale of dysfunctional adolescent romance acts as a voice for males and females who’ve been in the same position as Tom and Kate. The frustratingly close-to-perfect (yet just missing that “certain something”) state of their relationship hits the nail on the head as a study of current times, and may be frighteningly mirror-like to many members of the audience.
Barkley captures the essence of female teenager with ease, bringing her own subtle mannerisms which colour the character beautifully. While Chmiel brings a wonderfully uncomplicated mesh of your typical slobbish teenage boy features (eating, smoking, sex-driven) They work in harmony to paint the audience a clear picture of their relationship, even in the short 5 minutes for which we encounter them.
Carl Williams’ guitar opens the film bringing with it a ‘Juno’-style indie-friendly feel, which gives the impression of another innocent teen romance film. This mood changes completely when the music stops leaving only the voice over, laying bare the characters’ thoughts and emotions and adding an unexpected depth to the story. The music doesn’t come back in until the end credits - a gentle echo of the emotions at the start - and although remaining the same it brings with it a whole new meaning to the innocence and naivety of first love.
Not unlike ‘500 Days Of Summer’, the film explores its themes partly through voiceovers and manages to soften it’s harsh message through the use of subtle comedy. The contrast between the lead characters and their interpretations of situations is the result of a very well scripted piece of film – giving a true insight into the way men and women (especially teens) think of their opposing sex. It helps that the filmmakers are represented equally by both gender giving this film a unique and knowing insight into relationships of this age group but also managing to appeal to audiences of a variety of age.
This film makes no pretence to be what it’s not; there are no fancy effects, costly sets and costumes or gut-busting action, and in that way (amongst many others) it is social realism through and through. However, the film-makers have added a new dimension by introducing moments of humour and stylistic ways of presenting the story which are a pleasant surprise, and help to effectively communicate the emotions throughout.
For example, the voice-over acts as our personal guide through the character’s heads, telling us bluntly and without pretence their feelings towards each other at different times. This builds up to (in classic social realism fashion) a suspenseful ending where all that we’ve seen must come to a head and it’s those final moments that will really grab the audience’s attention in a chokehold, the awkwardness and nerves practically pouring out of the screen.
For debut directors Keira Smalley, Dominic Michau, Adam Rutherford and Arran Fitzgerald, this is a team teen triumph which is bound to earn them a successful grounding in the film business should their joint endeavours continue. ‘Three Words’ is not going to break any records or change people’s lives, but it will leave you with a satisfying sense of truth and reflection which will echo the feelings of many frustrated teens around the country.
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