Ice Breakers is a three-minute comedy short about a rather awkward first date between a couple played by Sterling Gathers (Outer Banks) and Anna Stadler (Justice Through Redemption). They start asking those getting to know each other type questions and realize they grew up in the same area. And might be a bit closer than just nearly neighbours.

Director Bobby Broady Best and writer Chase Kiefiuk keep the tone light even as the questions and answers start taking an increasingly ominous turn. That along with good performances and nice chemistry between Gathers and Stadler makes for a funny short, and Gathers’ character’s response is just the perfect icing on the cake. It’s a line I could imagine my younger self trying, with about the same results.

Overall though Ice Breakers feels less like a complete film than it does an excerpt from a longer work or a proof of concept for a feature. It’s like a scene from the first act of a romantic comedy, and perhaps because of that, I was left expecting more from the story than such a short vignette could provide.

And if Ice Breaker was meant to create interest in a feature that’s exactly what the makers wanted to do. Leave the viewers wanting more and willing to contribute to the crowdfunding campaign to get it. If it was meant to be a complete, self-contained piece it’s still a sign they created likeable and compelling characters even if they didn’t quite manage to keep it self-contained.

Either way, Ice Breakers is a fun little film that is well worth the three minutes it takes to watch. I’m not sure what the filmmakers and producer Joe Fishel (Occurrence at Mills Creek, Potential Inertia) have in mind for it but it is worth catching if you get the chance.