PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2024 REVIEW! Fateful chance encounters in film are typically used as fodder for romantic comedies. Flipping the script into a psychological thriller proves exciting and fresh in writer-director Sarah Nocquet’s Speed Queen 51. The short film is about two strangers alone at night in a laundromat who decide to trade secrets since they figure that they will never see each other again.
Rory Culkin stars as Cory, a long-haired, metalhead-looking dude who strikes up a conversation with a stranger named June (Jane Purnell) while they’re both doing laundry. She tells him that she came to this laundromat because it has no cameras, so she can’t be fined for putting her sneakers in the wash. Cory then notices the only other person in the place leaving and the door slamming shut. This could either be the start of a horror movie or a beautiful relationship, which is an excellent trick to keep the audience on their toes. Cory tells a story about watching an interview with a hitchhiker who trades secrets with people who he’ll never see again. He says it’s such a cool concept, like a “cheat code,” and goes on to say that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a secret but a chance to be completely honest.

“…June’s face noticeably fades to horror and frustration.”
The superb chemistry between the two actors with body language and smiles gives off a romantic comedy type of feel at this point in Speed Queen 51. June playfully ponders the question before relenting and spilling to Cory that she lacks a sense of purpose. He confesses that he has a secret (which is an understatement). He sits in the washing machine and tells a story about an overweight woman with a limp on a train who was making her way to a seat, but he grabbed it first. Afterward, on the subway, she follows him and starts to yell about how privileged and entitled he is and goes to grab him. As the story goes on and rationalizations mount up, the smile on June’s face noticeably fades to horror and frustration. Is Cory’s secret truly that horrifying, or is June overreacting?
Nocquet has stated that the movie was filmed at her local laundromat in Brooklyn. The real-life setting worked out well because the location helped set the mood. Besides the excellent writing, complete with foreshadowing, I love the little visual touches that the filmmaker utilizes. There’s a shot from inside the washing machine, cutaways to squeaky wheels on the train, and June’s dripping wet sneakers.
Purnell and Culkin fantastically set up the rom-com mood with each other before believably transforming as their characters take sharp turns. Unpredictably is a treat in film, and that is what everyone involved brought to Speed Queen 51. This stylish and electrifying thriller proves that Nocquet is definitely someone to keep an eye on as a filmmaker on the rise.
Speed Queen 51 screened at the 2024 Palm Springs Shortfest.