Ry is a serious lovelorn romantic, who spends all his time trying to make connections on dating services. He cannot do anything in-person, because the population is confined to their personal spaces—in his case a tiny pod. The wealthy have actual houses, like Ria’s parents did, before their split. She is determined to regain that lost status, so she works like a mule for the giant tech company that underpays and overworks her.
Even though she has no interest in a relationship, but the CNKTR “Connecter” service or app or whatever is running a special contest, introducing two people in-person, in a house they can jointly win, if they build their connection score to 100 within three days. Obviously, they have very different goals, but their will be some chemistry sparking between them. The question is whether Ry will ruin it by coming on too strong again, or will Ria inevitably push him away? Probably both.
Nevertheless, Future Date works pretty well exactly because it never comes on too strong. Co-leads Wong and Shuang Hu never over-sell the jokes, while developing a real rapport. The truth is Wong and company largely sidestep all the pitfalls that made Michael Lukk Litwak’s Molli and Max in the Future nearly unwatchable. If you suffered through that movie, do not associate it with Future Date, even though they are obvious thematic similarities.
As director, co-star, and co-screenwriter (with Patrick T. Dorsey), Wong shrewdly uses the somewhat-near-future gadgets and conventions, like the couple’s holographic counselors, enough to capitalize on the speculative setting, without allowing the dystopian elements to overshadow or infringe on the central relationship. It is small in scope, but impressively sure-footed. Highly recommended for fans of genre rom-coms, Future Date is available through August 11, as a selection of this year’s AAIFF.
