SWIM | Omeleto Drama 

Two swimmers become friends.
SWIM is used with permission from Michael Gamarano Singleton. Learn more at / mixing_productions .
Luke is a regular swimmer at a local pool when he notices someone new beginning to swim regularly as well. The new swimmer's name is Sid, and over time, they strike up a friendship, chatting amiably whenever their paths cross.
Luke eventually invites Sid out to join him and his friends for a drink. But outside of the pool, their true identities are revealed to one another and their friendship is tested.
Directed by Michael Gamarano Singleton and written by Ronan McCabe, this powerful short drama is a narrative about two men who develop a friendship based on a common interest. It unfolds in a self-contained space where people are stripped down of visual indicators of identity, class or status. But when they encounter one another in the "real world," they find their friendship in peril when it comes to society's rules.
Visually, the film takes advantage of the social space of an indoor pool, creating bold, graphic images that are striking for their use of color, movement and composition. Opening with an image of Sid awash in theatrical, fanciful makeup, the film artfully intersperses more of these portrait-like images with the development of Sid and Luke's friendship, so Sid's unique self-expression is never a secret to us as a viewer and is shown in all its otherworldly singularity.
It does build up a question, though, of what Luke's reaction will be, especially as the pair bond as friends as the weeks pass, chatting every time they see one another. Both passionate about swimming, their dialogue is mostly friendly chit-chat, but they enjoy "shooting the breeze." They have ease between them, as well as friendly competitiveness, and sharing a post-swim drink is a natural step.
Actors Chris Jenks and Omari Douglas (who was nominated in 2022 for a BAFTA acting award) play both the sincerity and ambiguity of their connection and Douglas especially has a very sincere, pure presence and demeanor. There's an almost innocent guilelessness to Sid, as well as a pleased excitement of making a new friend. But those expectations are dashed when real-life Sid confronts the real-life Luke and his friends.
Sadly, the dynamic that ends SWIM is recognizable as one more akin to a schoolyard run by bullies than an interaction between mature grown-ups. It's hard not to feel for Sid, and the film makes us understand his feelings of shame and humiliation in the situation he finds himself in, and the hurt he feels that his new friend is complicit in the cruelty dealt to him. In the end, however, it's Luke who realizes just what he has lost, and what Sid's friendship meant to him.