A great story is in the telling. On paper, Christa Haley’s Tragedy Babes is far from a great story. An unexpected, serious disaster befalls two friends on a night out. And one of the friends’ attitude toward the disaster doesn’t help matters.
It’s simple and straightforward, and it’s this that prevents the movie from achieving true greatness in its own right. It doesn’t delve deeper than the basic tenets of its premise, and its only commentary on the events of its narrative are pithy and obvious. But where it overcomes its simplicity is in how Haley tells this story.
There’s a vibrant, distinctly cinematic combination of verisimilitude and dramatic urgency, accomplished through astute scripting and a canny use of space, camera and editing. The two principal actors, Kelly Dépeault and Thea Sofie Loch Næss, perform with nuance and vitality. And Haley understands how to situate her stars both physically and contextually to inform the impact of their smart, subtle work.
Some overbearing non-diegetic scoring aside (and it’s not excessive in its application), the technical aspects of Tragedy Babes are all very sound, again informing the narrative and its impact, not imposing upon it. This isn’t a groundbreaking movie by any means, but it’s been made with skill, precision, and sensitivity. Haley could do terrific things with a more purposeful story, but this is still pretty good stuff.