I hate this film so much. We were up against it in like four festivals. We came in second to it each and every time. Why? Because it's easily digestible, it's cute, and it's absolutely surface-level. It's the quintessential film festival film. The guy who directed it spent a lot more money than we did, and we actually shot on film and had a crapton of practical effects. We ended up in a lot more festivals, though, and both of us ended up with representation. Within two weeks of our film's debut we were in pitch meetings. The director of this thing never worked again.
I hate it because it ruins a perfectly good short story.
I meant I don't know why an appreciation of the story would have any bearing on film festival results. If I hadn't read the story I wouldn't have submitted it here. It was on the bubble anyway without any reveal at the end but I said fuck it when I posted it.