New Year’s Eve 1999 and anaesthetist Minnie (Emily Browning) starts her day with a reminder that she’s not got her life together in the manner she thought she would have. Her patient in obstetrics turns out to be the wife of her ex-fiancée who had made it clear to Minnie he wasn’t interested in having children. It turns out that he wasn’t interested in having children with her especially as she messed up their engagement by getting drunk and sleeping with her university crush. Shift over she heads to the home of her best friend Flick (Anna McGahan) and her girlfriend Max (Contessa Treffone) where she’s couch surfing, somewhat permanently much to the displeasure of Max, and decides she’s going to spend Y2K on the sofa bed with a bottle of wine and a book instead of going to the costume party hosted by another university pal, Rodney (Ashley Zukerman). That is until she hears from Rodney that the same crush is going to be at the party. Maybe it’s a sign that she’s destined to be with Joe (Sean Keenan) after all.
The party is happening and so is the decade-old bottle of tequila (mescal because of the worm) gifted to her by Flick after a trip to Mexico. A great red dress, a spicy bottle of booze, and a chance to be around Joe – new millennium, new Minnie. That is if she can get past her past which is rearing its head in a time-loop facilitated by said bottle of booze.
Nicholas Clifford’s comedic skills mesh with his tonal control over adult drama in the all too aptly named One More Shot. Touchstone 90s references abound at the costume party held at Rodney and his wife Pia’s (Pallavi Sharda) ocean fronted mansion. Max and Flick have opted for John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction costumes. Rodney is Ace Ventura, and Joe goes for Kurt Cobain and baby Frances. Joe opens the door to Millie with James’ “Laid” playing in the background. “What time is it?” Joe asks. “Party time” their matching tattoos answer. The party itself seems like a kind of last hoorah for the group of friends whose lives are now dominated by mid-thirties responsibilities.
Surgeon Rodney and stay-at-home mum Pia are just glad to have the night away from their baby. Joe has just returned from the United States where he has brought with him his hopes for settling down, his mixologist and dancer girlfriend, Jenny (Aisha Dee). Jenny’s existence is a surprise for Minnie who felt sure that Joe would still be in love with her. Instead, she’s cornered by Rodney’s friend Carl Seiwart (Hamish Michael) whose name morphs into C-Word over the night for good reason.
Jenny easily fits in with the core group with her charm and beauty, plus her wicked skills at the bar. The theme song of the group a europop anthem has Minnie and Joe dancing flirtatiously until Jenny steps in and becomes the focus. Seething with jealousy Minnie tries to get Flick onside, but for once Flick isn’t backing Minnie’s emotional needs. The night goes on and Minnie fails at getting Joe’s attention with the exception of a glass door accident and broken nose which results in an almost kiss. The party comes to a kind of halt during the countdown with Rodney playing a Y2K trick on Pia and Joe using the new year to propose to Jenny. Minnie takes a long shot from the bottle of tequila and finds herself at the door with Joe answering and the night reset.
Millie is certain that what she needs to do is find a way to get Joe aside to convince him that she is the love of his life, but universal forces seem against that proposition as well as Millie having the chance to pee by herself without C-Word closing off the bathroom to rack cocaine and invade her personal space. Millie is very good at avoiding the signs both universal and physically apparent. Failure. Tequila. Repeat. Failure. Tequila. Repeat.
One More Shot is a smart film that adds information and context with its time-travel conceit. Information and context that should be (mostly) obvious to someone who wants to see the big picture, but Millie isn’t that person. Nor, it appears, is Rodney who almost blithely ignores Pia’s need to be considered anything but a mummy. The Y2K joke goes badly every time because Pia once worked in programming and feels it’s a possibility, but even if it isn’t she’d like someone to listen.
There is a lot of fun and very Australian humour in Clifford’s film scripted by Alice Foulcher and Gregory Erdstein from a story by Heather Wilson. There’s also a fine adult drama that balances the increasingly big time travel zaniness. Maybe reality takes several slaps in the metaphorical face to sort out. Maybe avoiding failure is inviting failure. Or maybe growing-up can happen in one night plus ten years. Certainly Emily Browning, Sean Keenan, and Ashley Zukerman present the conundrum of getting stuck and unstuck in an appealingly messy and relatable package.
One More Shot possibly isn’t the most original time-loop film especially as the concept has proliferated into a genre. However, Nicholas Clifford and his engaging cast have their fingers on the emotional and comedic pulse with such skill that it feels invigorated. One More Shot is nostalgic and wonderfully relevant. A great Australian indie treat.
Director: Nick Clifford
Cast: Emily Browning, Aisha Dee, Sean Keenan
Writers: Alice Foulcher, Gregory Erdstein
Producers: Virginia Whitwell, Nick Batzias, Elise Trenorden, Jim Wright
Cinematographer: Simon Ozolins
Composer: Justin Stanley
Editor: Julie-Anne De Ruvo