Will Penn has plenty to say in his review of short film This Conversation Has Been Removed.
This Conversation Has Been Removed is a punchy and funny 5-minute short directed by Andrew Nolan and written by Mark Hennigan. It follows an online spat between a man and a woman in scenes and vocabulary that are all too familiar. The twist? That they are actually a couple, sharing a room, holding hands as they hurl insults like toxic, incel, and cow at one another online. Through facial expressions and performative comedy, the film’s visual grammar is its greatest strength, delivering character, depth, and humour.
A challenge in film has been how to represent the online as an increasingly actualised place. There is not a shot wasted in This Conversation, and Simon Ashe-Brown and Stevie Martin provide expressive and rich performances. The drums pace the film, even offering their own levity. As the couple’s "discourse" unfolds, we are prompted to examine the folly of our virtual realities, and the ways people behave within it that they would never do in the real world. Ultimately, the film is a comedic exploration of what Charlie Brooker has described as playing "characters loosely based on ourselves online". The film ends with a cliffhanger of sorts – how do we reconcile these characters with who we are in the real world?
This Conversation Has Been Removed had its world premiere at Foyle Film Festival 2025.
