Shorts: ‘Just Between Us’ Is a Frisky, Considerate Examination of Boundaries

Are we fascinated by how other couples orient their sex lives, because it could, potentially, differ from our own arrangement? Why are we so obsessed with not only how the other half lives but how the other half fucks? Even if you know how another couple (or throuple, or…) arranges their marriage, the only people who know the specirfic goings-on are the ones sharing that agreed upon relationship. In Zac Hug’s charming, funny, and thoughtful new short film, Just Between Us, a couple looks inward towards their openness to secure its sexy center.

Ah, straight people at dinner parties. Somehow the subject of openness of a queer couple always gets tossed around (either at the center of conversation or said casually with side comments), but Sam and Dustin (co-writer Ben Baur and Matthew Bridges) have settled into a level of comfort with the mechanics of hooking up with others. This small get-together also welcomes a new face in Eddie Liu’s Brayden, a hairstylist who goes heavy on the flirtation. “He clearly wants to eat the two of you alive…” says another guest. Liu’s smile could probably get many people, gay or straight, to do things they wouldn’t normally do.

Once home, Sam is worried when he has to take time to think about when he and Dustin had sex without a third or guest star. It leads to a conversation where they both admit that they don’t want to change the extra play time, but they need to focus more on the consideration towards each other. Another film would assume that a lack of sex is because of playing with other people but Baur and Hug’s screenplay takes the mature, intelligent, and honest avenue of letting these two men speak to what they want. It’s not about shame towards playing with others, but how we can all get a little forgetful when it comes to being in a long-term relationship. Baur and Bridges have a sweet chemistry with one another, and their excitement to give physical space to each other is infectious. Who wouldn’t want more sex, right?

Just Between Us leans towards that familiar, likable comedy in moments like when Sam waits for his husband in a risqué new outfit when he doesn’t know who is going to show up at the door. When Sam surprises Dustin with sexy pool while plant-watching, who do they run into but the smiling, flirtatious Brayden. It’s a moment where people outside the relationship would show casual scorn and say, ‘I thought you were working on each other and not with others,’ when Sam and Dustin enter the encounter together. Hug hones in on the connection between this couple in ways that indicate a silent communication that comes with couples who have been together forever. Baur and Bridges’ eyes keep locking as they frolic and splash.

As the title suggests, we should not let the thoughts of our relationship dynamics permeate into how it functions. Boundaries can shift, change, or end, but Just Between Us’ dedication to that fluid communication feels groundbreaking in its visibility. We can make our own rules, and if you want to dive into a playful pool party, take the plunge.

Just Between Us will have its world premiere at the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival on June 29.