The House Next Door

By Jeremiah Kipp

If you wish to revolutionize your life, hop on the back of a motorcycle and hit the road. That's the philosophy of the two young lovers in Jeff Winner's independent film, Satellite. Kevin and Ro (played by Karl Geary and Stephanie Szostak) meet cute, seeing in each other a sexy intelligence that sparks in them a desire to be spontaneous -- to do all the things they were always afraid of doing. It's a fantasy no doubt many in the film's target audience wish they could realize in their own lives.

Now showing in New York City, Satellite is a fable grounded in the everyday. Shot in the streets of New York, probably without permits in true outlaw fashion, and in the cramped apartments and crowded nightclubs, Jeff Winner throws his audience right into the free-falling world of Kevin and Ro. The frequently handheld camerawork moves along at the energetic pace of the lovers, and dreamily lounges with them in their more intimate moments together. It's about the energy and vibrancy of love, and the willingness to take a dare. But Winner isn't creating a simplistic fairy tale, because he understands that true love also means genuine pain, and harsh arguments, and surviving confrontations. When Kevin and Ro promise early on never to lie to one another, they don't realize the power of that bond. Once they realize the truth isn't always pretty, and that it sometimes hurts, it tests their entire universe. But like the best movies of the French New Wave, Satellite deals with heavy issues without ever feeling like a textbook. It's the perfect date movie for brainy romantics, closet idealists, and cynics with hearts of gold.
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To read the Slant Magazine interview with Winner, click here.