Love hurts. Sometimes, it REALLY hurts, as Love Is A Fire, a short film written and directed by Sofie Somoroff, paints with a broad and horrifying brush.

Celina Bernstein and Kenny Yates play Olivia and Andrew, a couple who have just moved in together. They quickly skip right past the honeymoon phase and straight into dysfunction, insecurity, and terror after a night of passion goes awry. What follows is an outrageous and squeamish unraveling of not only their relationship, but their physical and mental health.

At just over ten minutes in length, Love Is A Fire wastes no time in getting right down to business, so to speak, by focusing on the repercussions of that fateful first night. Though it’s short, the tension still has a chance to build to an appalling, albeit repulsive crescendo, leaving more than a few questions lingering as the final credits roll.

The performances of the two (and only) lead actors are both authentic and sympathetic and we watch them struggle as their relationship (and other things, unfortunately) disintegrates. Although it’s brief, it packs plenty of shock that isn’t for those with weak stomachs. The handicap of this is that it’s difficult to grasp what the point of the story is with such a compressed time frame, other than to deem it straight up body horror going for shock value. If that’s your cup of tea, and you can handle the subject matter, then you may find some enjoyment out of this. For others, Love Is A Fire has the possibility of teetering too far into the gross-out category to be redeemable. 

4 out of 10