Backgammon

The new feature film Backgammon has at least one thing in common with its namesake board game: After watching it for just a few minutes, you’re bound to get bored. Directed and co-written by newcomer Francisco Orvañanos, Backgammon is billed as part “psychological sexual thriller and part classic mystery.” While a couple of the characters do have psychological issues, this meandering, pretentious art film is devoid of any thrills—sexual or otherwise.
The premise is simple: Privileged college student Andrew (Christian Alexander) invites his friend Lucian (Noah Silver) and Lucian’s girlfriend Elizabeth (Olivia Crocicchia) to his family’s mansion on the Maine coast for a weekend. The idyllic getaway is ruined when Andrew’s flighty sister Miranda (Brittany Allen) and her maddening boyfriend Gerald (Alex Beh) show up unannounced. But, while Andrew and Elizabeth tire of Miranda’s and Gerald’s antics and bickering quickly, Lucian’s intrigued by the couple. He’s mesmerized by Miranda, especially drawn to the painting studio where Gerald’s nudes of Miranda hang about the room.
Just a few minutes into the film, we learn that Andrew’s left a note saying he’s headed back to Yale, and Elizabeth, thinking Lucian’s cheated on her, has left in anger—or so that’s what Miranda tells Lucian. Gerald’s gone, too. They’ve broken up after a doozy of a fight last night, she says, and he’s disappeared.
At this point, you might think that Orvañanos is setting the plot in motion for a serial killer on the loose. If only we’d be that lucky. Backgammon flashes back to earlier moments in the weekend to show the drinking, the arguments that ensue among the guests and just how irritating Gerald really is. The film then segues into a two-hander between Silver and Allen, who flirt with each other (although the pairing’s devoid of chemistry) while searching rooms and spaces for Gerald, who may not have left after all. Orvañanos hints at the possibility of violence or a deeper mystery, but the promise is just a facade. No one should be surprised by the “twist” at the end of the film.