Dion & Anto Go To A Gender Reveal Party

A short dark comedy written and directed by Adam Boland and starring Dion Kelly and Anthony Somers.

Two young friends, Dion and Anto (both actors use their actual names), are planning to attend a gender reveal party and they need some supplies. So Anto (Somers) has his friend Dion (Kelly) go to a local shop and buy a couple of gender reveal party cannons for them to bring to the event. However, the two guys end up finding themselves in a situation involving drugs.

This short is supposedly intended to be a humorous dark comedy about two guys discussing the uses of gender reveal party poppers before the subject moves on to them being in possession of illegal drugs. The writer of this review found it hard to understand the plot as (to his ears at least), the two protagonists do not speak very clearly. And once the story is comprehended, the screenplay fails to be significantly enganging, even when drugs enter the picture. Basically, the whole film is two youngsters inside a house, talking, arguing a bit and using a lot of profanity. On top of this, without the intention of spoilers, the title is a bit misleading and a title like ''Dion & Anto Prepare To Go To A Gender Reveal Party'' might had been more appropriate.

What is good about this film then? That might be Kelly's character as he plays a chilled-out dude constantly grinning. Also, the filmmakers make good use of the handheld camera. However, the camera techniques and Kelly's presence do not seem to be enough to elevate this short to decent standards.

And this leads to the performances. As mentioned, Dion is a laid-back, optimistic, happy guy. On the contrary, Somers portrays an apprehensive character who appears to be more cautious than his friend. Both protagonists act decently, nevertheless, as mentioned, they fail to make their voices clear enough for a comprehensible audible experience.

Going to the themes now, the significance of gender reveal party cannons is a major one here and the film also works as a commentary about drugs.

Is this four-and-a-half-minute-long story worth watching? The critic of this review could not see the humour or another way in which this short can be considered entertaining. As mentioned, Dion Kelly delivers an amusing performance, nevertheless, if he is removed from the film, then there does not appear to be much there.