Film Review: Lock Down Love

   

    Glowing up in quarantine, a term that sounds like a Mad Libs answer, is something that was heavily approached in the wake of Covid lock downs. In our isolation, many of us dedicated ourselves to developing a skill, building a business, changing our style, changing our bodies etc. Although quarantine was a period that should've been focused on survival, our society tends to push an above and beyond method to practicing stillness. We witnessed fitness crazes take hold in light of the closing of gyms and "how to glow up in quarantine" internet searches become a common narrative.

  Our culture loves a good  story of transformation The State Press shares in "Glow ups: The Internet's Obsession with Dramatic Physical Change", written by Lex Moulton that, "The hashtag #glowup on Instagram produces more than 4 million search results, and the same hashtag has over 14.7 billion views on TikTok". Watching someone transform and change via social media can be enchanting for a viewer but seeing the real, unfiltered trials and errors to see change can be scathingly transparent and relatable on a deeper level. Lock Down Love is a film that explores the depth of such self transformation.

 Directed and written by Emeka Mbadiwe, Lock Down Love is a film dedicated to sharing an honest, accurate portrayal of the journey to self discovery and love in a Covid era. We are immediately introduced to Lisa, our protagonist, who is agonizing over a seemingly sudden and cruel break up from her boyfriend. With Covid motivated lock downs being utilized in Lisa's city, the film reflects this with few location changes, holding most of the film from her apartment.

    Portrayed by Janine Hartmann, Lisa is a refreshingly relatable young woman who in her grief, decides to "glow up" as described by Amazon Prime's film summary. Lisa's "glow up" is essentially centered around weight loss, one of the many themes this film tackles. Body image, insecurity and desirability are some of the issues we recognize Lisa has a problem with as she assumes the reason for her break up is her weight gain. The audience is also led to believe that weight is a deep issue for Lisa as she keeps a scale in constant close proximity, under her couch.

   Hartmann expresses Lisa's grief, trials and triumphs with such warmth and relatability you almost forget that her character has little to no dialogue the entire film. The film is centered around Lisa who lives alone, the most outside communication we receive is via email or text message bubbles we read throughout the film. In addition to text messages to convey the message of the film, camera work, the materials Lisa reads and listens to and music help express the movement of the film's plot. A few scenes utilize the apartment props and camera angles to force the audience to see the bigger picture of Lisa's "glow up". Some scenes are filmed further away to acknowledge the necessary depth, needed for her attempts and failure to achieve what she really wants. Some scenes are dictated by music which is fitting but sometimes prolonged for my taste but the song usage is suitable for what's being projected.

  Besides music to express the film's themes, Lisa's text messages between her friend and mother are used as a catalyst into Lisa's mind and character. The audience gets insight into what she's willing to say versus what she's actually doing. Furthermore,  the circumstances of Covid help flesh out the realism of the film and reminds the audience to consider the outside circumstances to the immediate one. A news  station Lisa watches shares how many people have fallen ill or succumbed to Covid, which weighs on Lisa as well, the kind of feeling we all have witnessed or faced to some degree in the past year.

  Ultimately, Lock Down Love is a realistic look at the necessary tools for "glowing up", what it means and why we want to do it. Examining the tight bond between inner and outer growth, the relationship we have with ourselves and loved ones, Lock Down Love delivers a message about who we become in isolation. For a relatable, inquisitive, modern take on the mostly silent independent film, check out Lock Down Love on Amazon Prime Video.

“Glow Ups: The Internet's Obsession with Dramatic Physical Changes.” The Arizona State Press, 13 Nov. 2020, www.statepress.com/article/2020/11/specho-glow-ups-the-internets-obsession-with-dramatic-physical-changes.