Broken Hearts Gallery | Dir: Natalie Krinsky | ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Twenty-five year old Australian actress Geraldine Viswanathan seems to have taken Hollywood by storm and simply sparkles in this Gen-Y rom-com set in New York. People might recall her standout performances in the 2018 comedy Blockers or last year’s coming-of-age drama Hala.

Alongside her is the equally charming twenty-five year old Dacre Montgomery who hails from Perth and graduated from WAAPA. When Montgomery was in year 12 at Mt Lawley Senior High School, he was voted “the most likely student to become a Hollywood star” in the annual year book, and scored the role of the Red Ranger in the 2017 reboot of Power Rangers.

This is the debut feature film for writer/director Natalie Krinsky and she adds a bit of spice to the rom-com formula, which is supported by the great chemistry between the lead actors. Lucy (Viswanathan) is a gallery assistant who hoards mementos to her past broken relationships, whilst Nick (Montgomery) is busy creating a boutique hotel from an abandoned YMCA in Brooklyn.

After finding her latest boyfriend (and boss) Max (Utkarsh Ambudkar) has moved his attentions onto another woman, her public meltdown results in her losing both her boyfriend and her job. Jumping into a taxi, she refuses the driver’s protestations that he is not a taxi driver and Nick ends up taking her home.

When Lucy starts hanging out with Nick, as she has nothing else to do, she has the idea of moving the little shrines to her lost loves that clutter her bedroom to the hotel foyer of the unfinished hotel to create a museum of heartbreak. The idea takes off and people flock to leave mementoes to departed loved ones.

Supported by her flat-mates – the gay heartbreaker Nadine (Phillipa Soo) and the murder-obsessed Amanda (Molly Gordon), Lucy is able to come to terms with why she has tragically held onto the memories of broken relationships and move on with her life … true to the formula for a good feel-good rom-com for a new generation.

Lezly Herbert

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