Love Is A Hand Grenade

Mixing drink, drugs and a friendship on eggshells was always going to be an explosive mix in this bittersweet British mini drama.

The director, Jess Benhamou, and I discussed that the score should be quite minimal and subtle, with music only interjecting at key moments of the film. The film crosses over a wide range of emotions - anger, love, passion, betrayal - and becomes a story about the power play between our two main characters.

The first cue I wrote was the moment that Gabby is outside on her balcony, trying to have a moment of peace. Her friend has undermined her relationship with her fiance, and she needs this time alone to regain composure. The music creeps in very gradually without interfering with the sound design, with a rhythmic bass line juxtaposed against ambient synth pads, to reflect her heart racing as she searches for stillness.

Jess’s film has some great moments of humour and we had the opportunity to build on this through a ringtone, that aggressively wakes Gabby and Alexis the morning after. Jess and I developed some (quite diiiiirrrttty!) lyrics which was later performed by the brilliant Tayah Ettienne.

Jess imagined this short film to be the beginning of Gabby’s journey - as if it were the opening scene to a feature film. The final piece of the score reflects this - a hopeful yet nostalgic track that is driven by a persistent kick drum, arpeggiated synths and dreamy bells.

Directed by Jessica Benhamou.
Produced by Rosanagh Griffiths, Victoria Thorson, Louise Tse.

Winner of Best LGBT Film at Bristol Independent Film Festival.
Also selected into BFI Flare Film Festival, Show Me Shorts and Bolton Film Festival.