2024 Entry #012 01-07-24 “If Only You Were Mine” is a 23 minute 2017 Slovakian short romantic drama film which was directed by David Benedek (“Together”), who co-wrote it with Jakub Spevák (“Together”) & Ján Stiffel. The story follows a young graduate named Dominik (Jakub Jablonský), who is experiencing his first relationship with a man named Adam (Peter Martincek). Dom struggles with his complicated feelings and an eating disorder. The relationship doesn’t last as Dom expresses love for Adam who is in a different place emotionally – which hurts Dominik, though he quickly rebounds.
Another short collected in “The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek”, This was difficult for me to watch. I suffer from disordered eating myself, though it’s very different from what Dominik experiences – it was close enough that it hurt me. While too brief to really sink its claws in, I appreciated that this was a story with a lot to say about various aspects of life, and I could relate to much of it. I also appreciated Dominik’s relationship with his mother (Judita Hansman).