How to Meet Girls From a Distance: Movie Review

How to Meet Girls From a Distance: Movie Review

Cast: Owen Black, Jonathan Brugh, Scarlet Hemingway and Richard Falkner
Director: Dean Hewison, Richard Falkner

Scripted, edited and shot within a few months and made (on paper and in theory) for $100K, How To Meet Girls From a Distance is a minor NZ cinematic miracle. 

The peeping tom rom-com follows Richard Falkner's Toby, a stalker in Wellington whose luck with the ladies is less than impressive. 

So, while receiving coaching from dodgy date expert Carl (an utterly brilliant and scene stealing Jonathan Brugh), Toby ends up meeting Phoebe (Scarlet Hemingway) and falling for her. 

And of course, he does what any normal person would do - follows his heart, takes illicit pictures of her from a distance and stalks her to get to know her better. 

However, there's a stumbling block - Phoebe's with Owen Black's Brad - but for any decent stalker, that's not a problem. And soon, Toby is ingratiating himself into Phoebe's life and heart... 

How To Meet Girls From a Distance deserves to be admired for its turn around and chutzpah - but it also deserves to be admired for what's actually turned up on the screen, as well as making great use of its Wellington location.

Funny, charming and kooky, this piece of celluloid is a commendably good effort from all those involved. Falkner makes Toby endearingly sweet and innocent rather than borderline psychotic and Jonathan Brugh's Carl deserves a place in the pantheon of Kiwi oddball characters as a psychiatrist who helps Toby to meet women  he gets the lion's share of the best moments and is instantly a cult icon. 

A funny script plies on the laughs while never losing sight of the overall plot. Even though there are a few creaks and cracks here there, it still shows a great deal of likeability. From cringe-worthy dancing to dodgy tracheotomies, How To Meet Girls From a Distance is highly amusing, utterly rewarding and a totally unmissable experience which shows creativity comes from the simplest of ideas and the tightest of deadlines.

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