Sky Colored Grass: Love in the Time of Absurdity

Nicholas Kennedy’s Sky Colored Grass is a 9-minute drama about what it is like to fall in love in an absurd world. Set under the flare of theatrical lighting, this tragic romance uses its minimal tools and leaves a lasting impression.

Skye (a charming Cynthia Johnson) and Caelus (Brian Mendoza, enigmatic and then endearing), whose name also means sky, meet at the TSA’s line in a monochromatic world devoid of detail. Strange things happen around and to them: Skye loses her ticket, Caelus almost gains a dog, belongings jump bags, and a different, terribly bleak world impinges on their nascent romance.

In fact, the unreal reality spawns one alternate realm upon another, until what feels like a kaleidoscope of worlds open up to the strangers who are also new lovers, who would maybe have loved each for years afterwards. The plot is inessential, the music heartbreakingly evocative, and the pair’s chemistry perfect. Skye and Caelus smile at each and all you see in the choppy frame rate is the wonder of discovering love and something akin to soulmates.\

The combined effect of the lighting, the subtle shifts in performances, and the emphasis on faces makes Sky Colored Grass a film that demands to be seen on a big screen. One can only dream of what that soundtrack will feel like with theatre acoustics.

Watch Sky Colored Grass Short Film