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Two Distant Strangers
Two Distant Strangers
	Official release poster
Directed by	Travon Free; Martin Desmond Roe;
Screenplay by	Travon Free
Produced by	Van Lathan; Lawrence Bender; Jesse Williams; Chris Uettwiller; Sean Combs; Mickey Meyer; Terrence J;
Starring	Joey Badass; Andrew Howard;
Cinematography	Jessica Young
Edited by	Alex Odesmith
Music by	James Poyser
Production; companies	Dirty Robber; NowThis; Six Feet Over;
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	November 20, 2020;
Running time	32 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$443,050 (all short films)

Two Distant Strangers is a 2020 American short film written by Travon Free and directed by Free and Martin Desmond Roe.^[2]^[3] The film examines the deaths of Black Americans during encounters with police through the eyes of a character trapped in a time loop that keeps ending in his death.^[4]^[5] Two Distant Strangers won the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, marking distributor Netflix's first win in the category.^[6]

Plot

In New York City, graphic designer Carter James tries to get home to his dog, Jeter, the morning after a first date, only to find himself trapped in a time loop in which he is repeatedly confronted in the street by a NYPD officer, Merk. Merk wonders whether Carter is smoking a joint and wants to search his bag. Each encounter ends with Carter being killed by the police, then waking up in the bed of his date, Perri.^[a] In one version of the loop, riot police burst into Perri's apartment, mistaking it for a different apartment because the door number is hanging upside down, and shoot him there.^[b]

After 99 deaths, Carter decides to discuss the situation with Officer Merk. Carter tells him about the time loop, offering Merk evidence by correctly predicting what people around them will do next. Carter asks Merk to drive him home. The journey ends without mishap; Merk and Carter get out of the patrol car and shake hands. But as Carter turns to enter his apartment building, Merk starts applauding what he calls Carter's "noble performance", revealing that Merk remembers the previous loops too. Merk then shoots him in the back, while a pool of blood starts forming in the shape of Africa, and says "See you tomorrow, kid". Carter wakes up once more in Perri's bed.

Undeterred, Carter leaves Perri's apartment to make yet another effort to get home. As the song "The Way It Is" plays, names of Black Americans who have died in encounters with police are listed.

Cast

Joey Badass as Carter James
Andrew Howard as Merk, an NYPD officer
Zaria Simone as Perri, Carter's date

Release

In March 2021, Netflix acquired the distribution rights and made the film available from April 9.^[8]

Controversy

In April 2021, Cynthia Kao posted a video on the social media site TikTok alleging that this film plagiarized a short film she had directed in December 2016 titled Groundhog Day For a Black Man.^[9] The contents of Kao's film were similar to the plot of Two Distant Strangers, which are both about a black man trying to relive the same day over and over until he can survive a police altercation. Furthermore, in 2020, during the George Floyd protests, social media news outlet NowThis contacted Kao about featuring the film on their Facebook and Instagram pages. The following year, Netflix released Two Distant Strangers in collaboration with NowThis, excluding any credit of Kao's name or that she had anything to do with the original idea for the movie in any way.^[10] NowThis responded to the claims, citing the fact that the film was independently conceived and in final production before they became involved, disputing any connection to Kao.^[11]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.20/10.^[12]

Accolades


Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	April 25, 2021	Best Live Action Short Film	Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe^[13]	Won	^[14]
African-American Film Critics Association	April 7, 2021	Best Short Film	Two Distant Strangers	Won	^[15]

References

Footnotes

^ Carter's first death resembles the killing of Eric Garner in 2014 and the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Travon Free wrote the script in July 2020.^[7]
^ Alluding to the 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor
^ v. 1, ln. 16: "Learn to see me as your brother 'stead of two distant strangers"