Approaching a Breakthrough (2017)

Kieran Culkin and Mae Whitman Spar In Woody Allen-Inspired Short ‘Approaching a Breakthrough’

In this surrealist short, a young man is visited by past therapists and exes while arguing with his girlfriend over a walk in Central Park. Back in New York after a stint in Los Angeles, Norman Kaminsky has a terrible argument with his girlfriend just before running into a string of characters from his past. Despite his best efforts to run away from his problems, Norman can't seem to escape them.

“The initial idea for the short was to remake the subway chase scene in ‘The French Connection,’ only instead of a detective and a criminal, it would be a psychiatrist (or two, and then some others) and a derelict patient,” Pritzker told IndieWire. He had been living in Los Angeles for a year, and “really missed the spirit of making movies in New York.” So he returned to New York in the hopes of re-connecting with collaborators who “were up for making more experimental things.”

Well scripted and engagingly shot movie that pays hommage to cult and classic films

I love the way the peanut gallery gave a comedic boost to this dialogue heavy short. It felt very real despite the unrealistic/imagined circumstances.

Directed by Noah Pritzker
Starring: Kieran Culkin, Justine Lupe, Jeanine Serralles