Long Story Short asks what life would be like if we lost a year just like that. After losing a year to a pandemic, the story feels extra relatable; and this is what happens to director Josh Lawson’s lead character Teddy (played by the infinitely watchable Rafe Spall) in the new time travel romantic comedy Long Story Short. 

When Teddy falls in love with and marries Leanne (the lovely Zahra Newman), the pair goes to pay their respects to one of Teddy's long gone relatives at a breathtaking graveyard at the sea (they also update the relative on the good news). When Leanne walks away and Teddy lingers, he has a conversation with a mysterious older woman (Noni Hazlehurst), who promises him a wonderful wedding gift. In a magical realism moment, her gift (or curse) to Teddy is that a year passes by in Teddy’s life approximately every five minutes or so. The movie is absolutely an homage to Groundhog Day, with a much more limited setting. 

Lawson said he came up with the concept because, "Well, I decided to get old, and that scared the shit out of me ... I came up with this story to torture Teddy and make him suffer more than I was suffering."

And Lawson does indeed manage to torture Teddy, even when mainly keeping him in the four walls of his own home. Teddy wakes up to an unknown pregnancy (due to his time travel), having cheated on his wife and much worse. The limited locale does not limit the ways in which Teddy finds his life unraveling. 

The limited locations came out of necessity, according to the filmmaker.

"I was trying to get other movies made and I couldn’t get them off the ground. I was really struggling, so I wrote this and decided I’m gonna make this no matter what," he said.

With minimal locations and cast, there were fewer reasons to say no. Lawson also uses the local Sydney suburb to great effect.

"It’s a beautiful suburb on the beach. I would put it up against any city in the world as a location. I felt like any chance we could see how beautiful the city is, let’s use it," Lawson said.

He actually went back after the initial shoot to shoot more exteriors. Every time Teddy gets to be outside, it feels like a big gasp for air; as his life rushes by, he gets these tiny moments to breathe.

There is no doubt that in a purposefully claustrophobic film, a lot of the heavy lifting falls on the actors, and Lawson acknowledges the same. 

"They all brought so much more to the roles than anyone could have on the page. Rafe is just kind of that person in that role and Zahra’s role is deceptively tricky, and she’s such a good actor that there was very little I had to do," he said.

"Teddy is in every scene and every frame, so it was particularly important to get it right. We had a lot of trouble casting him, but the second I spoke to Rafe I thought, 'this guy is Teddy.' I felt like I just spoke to Teddy come to life just hearing his voice ... thank god for good actors."

There’s no doubt that Long Story Short is following in the footsteps of time travel rom-coms at the moment. In the wake of Palm Springs and the upcoming Pete Davidson and Kaley Cuoco rom-com, it feels like the genre is having a moment.

Lawson reminds us the genre has been around forever.

"It’s always been written about since Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Capra’s It's a Wonderful Life. I’ve always been aware of the ticking clock, but I feel maybe we are all more aware of time running out now, and it might feel more poignant than previous years after last year," he said.

If, as a writer, you are dying to tackle the genre, Lawson has the following advice:

"Be clear about what it is you are trying to say about the human condition and if you are clear about that, it will feel fresh. If it feels like you are saying something different about love and life and loss, then it doesn’t matter that we are in the territory of a time travel rom-com," he said.

"I should also say this is a love letter to some of my favorite films in the genre. Back to the Future made me fall in love with movies, and this is of course influenced by Groundhog Day — it’s a good thing to pay tribute to those films you love."

The simplicity and reliability of Lawson’s premise should hit home for anyone who’s ever been in love. He says that his message is simple.

"Don’t waste time. It’s all we got, and it’s running out. I happen to be a person who doesn’t believe there’s an afterlife. There’s no heaven or hell. That makes this life more valuable to me. There’s no backup plan if I screw this up ... that motivates me to make the most of this time," he said.

"What are you gonna do before you die? Who are you gonna spend that time with? What are you gonna do with that valuable time? It’s always tick, tick, ticking; ticking away, and that should scare you, and liberate you, and motivate you to do more, and be motivated by it. But that shouldn’t be a downer. You should finish the film and go, 'holy shit, I gotta do more and go harder,' and if it motivates you to tell people you love them, even better."

In other words, does Lawson’s Teddy learn something when 10 years go by in the blink of an eye? Of course. It’s deciding time passing quickly doesn’t have to be a curse, but instead a blessing; just as Teddy’s nefarious stranger who likes to give surprise wedding gifts knew all along. 

Long Story Short is out in theaters and On Demand July 2.