J’Attendrai Le Suivant (I’ll Wait For The Next One), a contemporary French short film, is about single people and finding true love in this world. It was set in the underground railway trainsport system in France, giving an urban atmosphere, which influences the mood of the film. The soundtrack also lent a sad, longing feeling to the rest of the film.

In the film’s opening scene, a woman who appears to be in her thirties takes the subway home. She takes the escalator down into the subway station and sees a pair of lovers kissing as they ride up into the street. The woman’s face reflect the sadness and the longing for love that she feels.

As she walks towards the boarding area for passengers, she is shown to be alone. There were few people around the station but they are sparsely scattered. This just emphasizes how lonely the woman is.

Camera angles were composed of close shots of the actors’ faces, revealing the film’s focus on characterization. The lighting is natural giving it a documentary-like feel. Although the dialogue is mainly a monolgue delivered by the antagonist, a guy who claims to be looking for true love, but it didn’t make the film boring.

The sad twist in the end qualifies the film as a comic tragedy. It was funny and at the same, sadly bittersweet. A single woman longing to find love finds only humiliation in the end.

The plot was simple, and the narrative was straightforward, and yet the drama is as gripping just as the climax is as shocking. The viewer can not help but sympathize with the woman’s plight.

The issue of being single in this modern world is never as starkly emphasized as when the woman eagerly gets off the train in response to the man’s plea. To be told that it was all a lie was one of the worst betrayals. The man was a stranger who claimed he was looking for true love, but was really just performing a sketch. The woman was desperately lonely enough to believe a perfect stranger, and took the risk to find true love.

Thanks to Arekz who drinks Coffee with Arsenic for leading me to this wonderful short film!