Have you ever found yourself watching a romance film and thinking, ‘wow, these folks should really just call it quits already’? The should they or shouldn’t they, will they or won’t they back-and-forth can quickly grow dull, and without a clear-cut trajectory, the whole affair can quickly become tiresome. Though not without its moments, Miss or Misses often finds itself in such a precarious spot.
Alicia (Hazel Caulfield) is a young woman living in an abusive household with her family, seeking any opportunity to escape her predicament. To make ends meet, she makes due as an office temp during the day. Eager to rebound from a failed relationship in London, Paul (Sergio Monda) invites Alicia on a date. Though there is little to no history between the two of them, the meeting goes through as planned, with Paul immediately asking Alicia to enter into a relationship with him and then marriage. However, what Paul fails to realize is that Alicia’s intentions are anything but pure, and the woman of his dreams has ulterior motives that drive her infatuation with him.
The sound design and cinematography of the film are exceptionally well-crafted from the outset. Director Daap P. Orr and Director of Photography Ross Yeandle use a variety of different compositions and shots to really amplify the instability surrounding the couple. Yeandle achieves contrast with obvious visual cues like differing color palettes but also in Paul and Alicia’s unique mannerisms in quieter moments. As we come to find out, Paul and Alicia’s realities stand at polar opposites of what society deems as normal. The subsequent clashes between the pair are what make Miss and Misses a wild and often compulsive watch. Everything from the lighting to the camera angles seeks to create more and more distance between the couple, making it abundantly clear that they do not mix well, which in turn fuels their outbursts.
These finer details don’t go unnoticed and are the best parts of a film that is, unfortunately, let down by an underwhelming screenplay. The means don’t justify the ends where Alicia is concerned, who becomes unrecognizable in the viewer’s eyes, earning little to no sympathy. Caulfield is excellent at bringing nuance to Alicia, but even that does little to offset a one-note character unraveling before her husband. Which brings us to Paul, who is arguably even tougher to root for because of how pushy he can be, with his impulsive behavior lacking believability.
The script actively chooses to depict its characters in a rather harsh light, based almost solely on stereotypes and surface-level emotional complexity. In fact, the story goes a step further in twisting archetypes so that it becomes nigh-impossible to cheer for either side. Both seem to spiral aimlessly, with neither separation nor reunification seeming final. The fact that the film never settles into a consistent tone further compounds this problem. It’s sometimes impossible to really understand what the screenplay is trying to achieve. There are moments of reprieve, where it seems someone is about to break down and let all their emotions spill over, only for the dialogue to be so over-the-top that the scene is plunged into borderline satire. Oddly enough, a lot of the film’s comedic moments (whether intentional or unintentional) land with the kind of absurdist touch audiences may come to enjoy.
Despite its narrative shortcomings, it’s difficult to deny the pulpy thrills of Miss or Misses, with the growing rift between a deeply messed up couple delivering plenty of crazy twists.
