‘Social Distance’ hits close to home
Social Distance Unrated. Running time: 107 minutes. On Netflix. 666out of 4
“Social Distance” was actually filmed at a social distance, and through disparate fictional stories, dramatizes what we’re all going through now. Just that would be enough to make “Social Distance” interesting, but this Netflix series is better than that.
The show succeeds in lots of different ways. First of all, it’s reassuring. For seven months, we’ve been watching movies and TV shows that were shot before things changed. “Social Distance” lets us know that life and creativity are still going forward.
The various episodes deal with different aspects of the coronavirus crisis. Some episodes may remind you of your own situation and make you feel that at least you’re not alone. Other episodes may alert you to the pain or fear or dislocation that others are experiencing. Thus, in the best way, “Social Distance” instills a sense of community, which is particularly warming in a time of isolation. A feeling of history comes through, too. “Social Distance” is so hot-off-the-presses that we can’t help but think how someday this will all be in the past. So we watch with a kind of dual consciousness, where we’re in the moment but also standing outside of it, wondering what people will think of this in six months, or a year, or 10 years.
There are eight episodes. I’ll tell you about three of my favorites.
“Delete All Future Events” captures the loneliness of this time, with Mike Colter as a barber shop owner whose business has been closed during lockdown. His girlfriend has left him, and one gets the impression that the virus just happened to coincide with a crisis in his personal life. He’s an alcoholic who has just realized that he needs to stop drinking — right at the time when everybody else is drinking more than ever. What makes this episode especially moving is the sense of time standing still. This man is by himself, with no employment to engage him, no romantic life to soothe him and no social life to distract him. All he’s doing is sitting around not drinking. And the question he keeps asking himself — when will this end? — is one that even we can’t answer. Another good one: “You Gotta Ding-Dong, Flingflong the Whole Narrative.” Peter Scanavino plays a father trying to control his toddler son (Leo Bai-Scanavino), while in the next bedroom his wife (Ali Ahn) is suffering from the coronavirus. The kid keeps wanting to run in and see his mother. Meanwhile, the father doesn’t know what to do. His wife seems to be getting worse, but she doesn’t want to go to the hospital. Should he listen to her or bring her there against her will, or wait some more to see if she gets better?
I’ve rarely worried this much about the health of a fictional character. But then, it’s impossible to watch this fiction without remembering that it’s close or identical to the reality being lived this second by people all over the world.
The episode, “Humane Animal Trap” features the real-life couple, Becky Ann Baker and Dylan Baker, as married doctors in the early stages of their retirement. He’s a former radiologist and wants nothing but to luxuriate in a well-earned vacation from life, but she’s an ICU doctor who knows she’s needed and wants to get back on the frontlines. Becky Ann Baker’s performance is one of the standouts of the series, in the way she shows how this doctor is internally assessing and balancing the conflicting needs of her husband and her potential patients.
The other five episodes are good, too. There’s an amusing one about a gay couple (Max Jenkins and Brian Jordan Alvarez) that keeps getting on each other’s nerves. And a heartfelt episode that deals with teenage courtship in isolation. There’s also an episode that doesn’t address the virus directly, but depicts a middle-aged black businessman (Ayize Ma’at) and his young black employee (Asante Blackk) arguing about the effectiveness of the protests following the murder of George Floyd.
“Social Distance” was created by Hilary Weisman Graham (“Orange is the New Black”) and deserves the accolades it’s bound to get. Making people feel like they’re not alone when they are alone is a worthy achievement.