I Love MacKenzie Reynolds (2017) Short Film Review

I think everyone on the planet can probably relate to falling for a friend who doesn’t see them as anything but a friend. It fucking sucks. Most of the time this is resolved in 1 of 3 different ways. 1. They give you a chance. 2. You suck it up and remain friends. 3. You don’t and the friendship dies. I Love MacKenzie Reynolds shows a 4th and more extreme option.

I Love MacKenzie Reynolds is a short film from director Brandon Prewitt (The Woods Within 2014, Cinematic Reality 2018) from a script by V.A. Bennett. The film stars V.A Bennett (Campground The Requel 2015), Chelsea Skalski (The Wicked One 2017), and Taylor Wilson (Scream For Summer 2017). The short tells the story of an unnamed man who harbors an unrequited crush on his best friend MacKenzie Reynolds and how far he would go to win her affection.

I’ve reviewed Brandon Prewitt’s previous short A Twisted Fate last year on my blog and I loved it, so I was looking forward to checking out this short. It tells a story that most people can probably see themselves in. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I have fallen for a friend only to have my hopes and dreams crushed. This means I should have been able to relate to the man in this short and to a certain extent, I could. That being said, he is a coward. He never bothers to tell her how he feels until it is too late and at that point, he takes it way too far. It’s painfully obvious that he doesn’t value his friendship with MacKenzie. He is obsessed with her to the point that he refuses to see the good in any of her boyfriends and seems to resent her for not loving him back.

V. A. Bennett did an excellent job with the script and even better with his performance. He starts out calm and collected but the more of his story he tells, the more pained and unhinged he becomes. You can see the pain written on his face.

Final Thoughts

I Love MacKenzie Reynolds is another excellent short from Brandon Prewitt and I look forward to seeing more of his work. First-time writer V.A. Bennett knocks it out of the part with the script as well as his performance and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. If you get the chance, check out I Love MacKenzie Reynolds.

About Charlie Cargile

Central Illinois based film journalist. Lover of cinema of all varieties but in love with films with an independent spirit. Elder Emo. Cat Dad. Metalhead.

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