Review by Michelle Kehm

With a budget of zilch, the twin-powered team behind The Polish Brothers (Northfork, Twin Falls Idaho) wrote, directed, shot and starred in this exquisitely intimate and beautifully scored film that pays homage to the French New Wave and Claude Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman. Piratic Mark Polish plays Yves, an American photographer who runs into his ex, Sofia, a model-turned-journalist played by the achingly beautiful Stana Katic, while in Paris. The scene where the two bump into each other sets the premise for the entire film. They take one look into each other’s eyes and there’s no sugary score or bleached smiles. Sofia’s brows furrow in angst and Yves is speechless. The two immediately realize they’re still deeply in love with each other, although they have new lives—and wedding rings. But their love is real and demands attention. They set out on a rendezvous road trip around France, and Michael, the behind-the-camera Polish brother, captures the love story so genuinely, I almost wanted to excuse myself to give the characters some privacy. The secret to the fly-on-the-wall feel is that Michael shot the film on an unassuming still camera with video capability, allowing the threesome an all-access pass to shoot wherever they wanted. The Brothers collected no permits, used natural lighting (with the exception of a scene lit with Michael’s iPhone), and apparently Stana Katic didn’t even get paid. The end result is a film that’s so courageously poetic, and in luscious B&W, I can only attempt to describe it. For Lovers Only is about being in pure, unconditional, helpless love, and no words can convey that agonizing bliss. But one film can. 

It’s up in the air whether For Lovers Only will see a theater release, but it quickly hit #1 on iTunes in both the Romance and Indie Film categories, and it’s in the top 100 of all downloaded movies. Not bad for a film made with no budget—but tons of heart.