PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2024 REVIEW! Writer/director Christa Haley’s short film Tragedy Babes deals with a young woman’s obsession that a great number of young people know about all too well, live streaming on social media. A night out of the town with a friend is meant to gather as many likes and comments as possible, but it spirals out of control quickly.
The film starts with the two dressed up for a night on the town women, Olive (Kelly Dépeault) and McKenna (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), in a dark city street alleyway. They find an illuminated area to take photos of each other while they say things like “You are stunning” during the impromptu photoshoot and selfie session.
We next see them inside a bar, where McKenna gets a text from her boyfriend asking to bring home a bottle of vino. She asks the bartender, who informs her that they do not sell bottles. McKenna then heads to the bathroom to find her friend Olive in the middle of a live stream on her phone. The people online tell the pair to steal the wine bottle, which they hatch a plan to do.
“…live-streaming on social media…”
It works, and they laugh together on the streets with their victory in hand, and online followers are surely egging them on. But like an episode of The Twilight Zone, no bad deed goes unpunished. The girls run away from some catcallers, causing McKenna to trip and accidentally cut her wrist badly on the bottle. Things progressively go downhill from there. Olive treats it like nothing at first, and even when panic sets in, eventually, she’s still on her phone, live streaming the entire time.
Christa Haley’s commentary spotlights a mirror of our culture; unlike these women, it is not pretty. It feels like a morality play which is a genre that I personally have enjoyed immensely ever since the aforementioned Rod Sterling television classic. The tension ratchets up, and you just want to yell at Olive to get off her phone. Kelly Dépeault and Thea Sofie Loch Næss are fantastic at being sympathetic and despicable while acting like typical young women. It’s just another day in the Tragedy Babes Zone.
Tragedy Babes screened at the 2024 Palm Springs Shortfest.