Love in Dangerous Times Parent Guide

Let me begin with my foremost concern about this film: its timing. It’s way too soon for a coronavirus love story. I don’t know about you, but I spend enough time talking to friends and family on Zoom or Facebook chat and I really don’t want to watch a movie where people are interacting on screens. I also don’t want to see any more of covid-19 than reality is already dishing out. When life gets back to some kind of normal, this movie will be an interesting slice of pandemic life, but now it hits too close to home to qualify as entertainment.

That said, I must give credit to director Jon Garcia for finding a way to safely make a film in the time of coronavirus, and on a $2,000 budget to boot. Almost the entire movie is shot in one apartment, giving it a claustrophobic feeling that resonates with those of us who spent weeks in our homes during the first wave of the pandemic. And the script seeks to not only reflect our times but also to protect its actors; they interact over screens or at a safe personal distance. This gives a sense of immediacy to the film’s exploration of relationships, loneliness, and our desperate need for human connection.

Love in Dangerous Times is the story of Jason (Ian Stout), a playwright, sometime actor, and restaurant employee. At the beginning of the movie, he’s working on a new play, but as the lockdown lengthens, he starts looking for a “buddy for the apocalypse”. Scrolling through a dating app, Jason comes across Sorrell (Tiffany Groben), an earnest young teacher with her own painful backstory. After an awkward beginning, the two hit it off and start a relationship over their screens. But when a potentially lethal virus is circulating in a community, there are no guarantees…

The most interesting aspect of this movie is its exploration of virtual relationships; intimacy mediated by a flickering screen. It asks us how important physical presence is; whether we can truly know someone we’ve never touched or caught in an unguarded moment. Jason feels no misgivings, as he says, “Maybe distance love is somehow easier than face to face because without all the obvious distractions that come with touch, the soul to soul contact really shines through. That’s when the connection really feels real.” This will certainly be a movie that will make you consider both sides of this question.

Despite its topical themes, Love in a Dangerous Time is burdened with some unfortunate sexual content. There is no explicit nudity, but there is a scene where a man and woman have a graphic conversation, fantasizing aloud about a sexual encounter they would like to share. The couple are fully clothed and don’t touch each other, but there is a climax involved. This scene and the movie’s two dozen sexual expletives push it clearly into Restricted territory. It’s definitely not suitable for teens. This is unfortunate, because young viewers are living this movie’s reality as they try to negotiate their social lives in a dangerous time and they might have enjoyed watching it play out on their own screens.