Everything Before Us (2015)

Everything Before Us is the debut movie of Wong Fu Productions. Though this is their first full length film, the crew of Wong Fu are no strangers to video. Since 2006, the team, led by Philip Wang, Wesley Chan, and Ted Fu, have released video after video on YouTube. Their content includes short films, comedy, and more. The Wong Fu Productions channel currently has 2,645,381 subscribers.

Everything Before Us takes place in the near future where there relationships are on the level of finances, By that, I mean that there are relationship scores, much like credit scores. Overseeing these affairs is the D.E.I., the Department of Emotional Integrity. The D.E.I. headquarters is just like the D.O.T., in terms of waiting setting. Once called, people register relationships, terminate, etc. 

The effects of such a system are unsettling. Though the D.E.I. claimed to resolve relationship conflict, it actually took something as pure as love and made it into business dealing. The candid romance was turned into a transaction. In the stages of casual dating, several people already had marriage in mind. 

Elitism was a prominent outcome of the relationship score system. Those of high scores looked down on those with low scores. Establishments like clubs and bars had minimum score requirements for entrance. Places that allowed low scoring individuals were viewed as trashy.

The separation between work and personal life was eliminated. Relationship scores directly affected employment, college entrance, loans - everything. One mistake in a relationship could rob you of a job or cancel any chance of entering a study abroad program. 

The D.E.I.'s claims of having a widespread positive effect on relationships seems to be greatly defied in the film. In a bar scene, we can actually see Randall, an active employee at the D.E.I. alone and looking very burdened. This brief glimpse has impact, as Randall is not only the character in all of the D.E.I. relationship consultations, but is introduced in the beginning boasting about the department's necessity and social significance at a high school.

Though there are cliches here and there, I would recommend Everything Before Us. It's thought provoking and has a very subtle dystopian feeling. It's recently become available on Netflix.