During a day in New York City, a reporter trains a new employee while covering a story about a possible murder where a watch repairman may have important information; a record collector finds a rare piece of vinyl; two brothers track down their sister's ex-boyfriend who posted nude pictures of her online, and a questioning teenage girl explores her feelings when she kisses a boy.
Defa wrote and directed the 2014 short film Person to Person, which starred his former roommate Bene Coopersmith and was shot on 16mm film.[3] Defa adapted the short into a feature, which was originally titled Human People, and was announced on December 3, 2015, with principal photography to take place in New York City.[2] It was photographed on 16mm film.[4]
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2017.[5]
Shortly after, Magnolia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film.[6]
It was given a limited release on July 28, 2017.[7]
Critical reception
Person to Person holds a 52% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 46 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.93/10. The site's consensus reads: "Person to Person's moments of insight and absorbing character development are scattered among an aimless, disjointed narrative".[4]
Christy Lemire from RogerEbert.com gave the film 1.5/4 stars, noting "Various characters populate “Person to Person,” but they rarely register as actual people. And while some of their storylines intersect throughout the course of a day in New York, they rarely connect in ways that have actual meaning."[8]
