One reason to watch... Kiss O'Gram (2013)

One reason to watch Kiss O'Gram (2013) - it takes less than 10 minutes to make you laugh and cringe in equal measure.


A boy sets up a kissogram stall outside his house and waits. What follows is a series of encounters with strangers who pass by, some helping and some hindering his plan to fill his collection jar with money. But what's the collection for? And will anyone pay for a kiss?

Kiss O'Gram is a short film. With a running time of under 15 minutes, it’s barely got time to pour you a drink (or two) before asking if you had a good time. Given this narrow window of opportunity to make an impact, what writer/director Joel Carr has created is something dreamlike, sweet and a little bit cheeky. And I'm really glad I enjoyed it, because Joel is a friend of mine and I've been harassing him to show me the film since he completed it.

The story is told in black and white, with happy little chapter titles floating in the sky above the kisssogram stall. His hero, The Boy, isn’t just a horny teenager trying to cop a feel from any girl who walks by – he barely manages to breathe through his encounter with The Vixen.

The story is simple. It doesn’t try to do or explain too much – like why The Boy thought a kissogram stall is the best way to earn some cash – and there's even a crafty bit of stunt casting to keep you on your toes and remind you that the people who leave the Big Brother house are still out there somewhere.

I liked Kiss O'Gram. I liked the whimsy, occasional sassiness and hopeful ending: “Find your dream, chase your dream, you’ve got to realise your dream.”

Kiss O'Gram has been screened at the Serge Sharrinovsky Sundown Film Festival in Perth, Australia and at Phoenix Arizona Comic Con in USA. It's finally getting a UK premiere next week in Birmingham.Watch the trailer below, and maybe catch it online some time soon.

FANTASTIC UPDATE - you can now watch Kiss O'Gram in full online. Watch it below or go to Joel's YouTube channel.