If you’re looking for something that is a blend of the weird with a dash of the macabre, then Romeo’s Distress, by Featured FearMaker Jeff Frumess, is the right film for you. Shot almost entirely in black and white, with some in-color moments of jest, Romeo’s Distress follows James Ferrose (Anthony Malchar) a man deeply lost in tortured and pained love, like that vividly brought to life by American great Edgar Allan Poe.
Romeo’s Distress feels like a dream, an acid-trip even; a slip down the proverbial rabbit hole. This is a film that defiantly eschews categorization into any genre paradigm. The film instead transcends any pigeon-holing by taking elements from horror, human drama, literature, film, and comedy. There is no story to be found, per se, but this is a film that likely benefits from multiple viewings, with its bizarre and compelling imagery that’ll more than hold your interest. Romeo’s Distress is an experiment in narrative styles and genres blending both fluidly to craft a pure experience about the search for love in the most bleakest of situations.
But nefarious individuals seek to get in the way of James and Jane’s (Kimberely A. Peterson) perfect love, and they’re led by none other than Jane’s father, Dale Matthews (Jeff Solomon). Let me just say, he will stop at nothing in preventing their blissful unity, whether corporeal or not. Romeo’s Distress defies convention and feels like an evocative experience visualizing the duality of love as a melancholic realization of loneliness and a soaring elevation of the spirit. Love is complicated and writer and director Jeff Frumessencapsulates all this in his weird little micro-budget film.
Jeff Frumess is the writer and director of Romeo’s Distress. The film stars Anthony Malchar, Alex Echevarria, Stevie Grossett, Kimberely A. Peterson, Charese Scott-Cooper, Jeff Solomon, Adam Stordy, and Dave Street. Made over a 15 month period for about $2, 553, Romeo’s Distress, is now nominated for a few awards at the Macabre Faire Film Fest. The nominations include: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (Jeff Solomon). The short took home The Best Screenplay award from the festival.