“Permission” is a romantic drama film written and directed by Brian Crano that came out in 2017. With close attention to the personal relations in the film, one would think that the film is only about relationships and a story about change. However, there is an intricate examenation of the nature of love, the evolution of the self, and the invisible walls one erects in long-standing relationships.
“Permission” is set in present-day Brooklyn and employs a small, close-knit cast, choosing to focus on the subtlety of intimate storytelling over large spectacles. The storytelling is intimate, and the film asks, can love exist without change? Is love threatening, or does love create freedom and a greater sense of understanding? With a calm and suggestive style, “Permission” asks the viewer to ponder the many and fluid meanings of love and the many different forms of relationships one can encounter.
Plot Overview (Non-Graphic and Clean)
The film centers on Anna and Will, a couple that met during their college years. The couple’s relationship is presented as supportive and nurturing. The couple cohabit and are contemplating the next step, marriage. The couple’s relationship is presented as a couple that have grown harmoniously and are destined to stay together.
While enjoying dinner with friends Reece and Hale, a seemingly harmless comment disrupts the dynamic. Reece jokes that before Anna and Will get married, they should “date other people,” a comment that starts off playful and soon turns serious. The suggestion does not come from discontent, but from curiosity; the couple has never experienced anything else, so how can they be sure that what they have is what they want?
What begins as a discussion between lovers turns into an emotional experiment. With mutual trust, they decide to open the relationship for a time. The film does not portray the decision as a game, but as a deep, human, and difficult choice filled with uncertainty and a desire for self-discovery as the couple steps outside their previously agreed upon emotional boundaries.
From there, the story leads into a sequence of calm and meditative thoughts. Anna and Will, for their part, make new friends, encounter new emotions, and come to new understandings of their own desires, all while seemingly alone. Reece and Hale, their friends, also face discord as a same-sex couple with differing perspectives on family and future.
A film captures not so much the rebellion of rules but the growth of a person, an evolution of a love, and the limits of a boundary.
Characterization and Performers
A person can only be so much of a rebel if they can understand themselves. Anna is played by Rebecca Hall and she is thoughtful, composed, and inquisitive. Anna’s journey is a recognition of her inner Self. Hall’s is a performance of emotional reserve but of great depth, as she internalized much of the character’s struggles, silence, and small gestures, rather than through screaming or excessive drama.
Dan Stevens character Will is equally sincere. He is kind, patient and deeply in love with Anna. As the story unfolds, Will tries to keep things loose, to no avail as the vulnerability of change is always present. Stevens brings a quiet and sad grace to the role, making Will to be both sympathetic and complex.
Reece, played by Morgan Spector, and Hale, played by David Joseph Craig, provide both levity and emotional weight to the story. Their subplot on the direction of their relationship and the possibility of parenthood and family sickness, are emotionally and structurally necessary parallels to Anna and Will.
Diane, Anna’s brother’s partner (played by Gina Gershon), appears in a small but character-shaping role, and adds as much nuance in her portrayal to adult relationships as to the other adult actors.
The execution of aptly phrased silences throughout the film testifies to the effective performances. Each character is infused with the realistic portrayal of a human being. There are no caricatures. There is no hyperbole. Each character stands is a beautiful testimony to the full spectrum of social discomforts.
- Themes and Symbolism
4.1. Analytical Growth Within The Boundaries of Commitment
The film openly asks to what degree people can shift and “change” without losing themselves when the commitments they have made to others. Anna and Will, the film’s two principal characters show throughout the film that when one’s affection is immutable, the bond of love is absolute, and with interdependence, the ties of love must remain unconditionally repagable.
4.2. Autonomy Within A Relationship
Anna and Will evade themselves not from a position of discontent, but from a positive desire to self-actualize. The character’s experiences are framed not as disloyalty, but positive disintegration as a means to clarification. The film climaxes with the question: must one submerge to a point of oblivion? Is disintegration a requisite? are we ‘I’, or ‘we’? Within relationships, must one self?
Fear the Unknown
The film focuses more on the anticipation of an event rather than its consequences. The characters deal with the emotions of, ‘What if i’m missing out on something?’ and, ‘What if attempting to grow causes a loss to something?’ Here, the doubts are human uncertainties and not dramatic crises. The paralyzing possibility of a wrong choice prevails over the choices themselves.
Communication and Honesty
The conversations in Permission are the framework around which the whole film is made. Characters are frank with each other, yet a breakdown of communication occurs. The film embodies a vision of the world where even honest and candid communicators are not able to voice the most critical questions. The film centers on the disparity among what is said, what is meant and what is felt.
Cinematography and Style
The film adopts a visual style that is warm and natural to mirror its intimate tone. The film is often framed in soft lighting around certain scenes, ones filled with cozy apartments, quiet street, and dimly lit restaurants. The earth and natural tones of the color palette remain subdued to reinforce the emotional ground of the film.
The approach is measured and deliberate. There are no sensational plot twists or fast action sequences; rather the camera focuses on the characters and emotions, taking in and dwelling on silences, and allowing dramatic moments to unfold in their own time. The film’s rhythm shows empathy to the characters’ emotional state; it is painstakingly slow, contemplative, and meditative.
The absence of music is noticeable and, when it is present, it serves to accompany rather than define a particular scene. The characters and their relationships convey the emotions, leaving the music in the background, which, in most cases, serves to accompany rather than define a scene.
Reception and Impact
Reception of Permission was uniformly lukewarm, and this was to be expected, as the film was slow and offered no easy answers. The praise for the film was for the performances of its leads, particularly Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens, and for its intelligent and sensitive depiction of contemporary relationships.
The film’s intention is to invite contemplation. It shows the relationship between Anna and Will, but does not advocate for or endorse that particular type of love. It provides a meditative space to explore the relationship between commitment and self-discovery, as well as the varying degrees of freedom involved in love.
For some viewers, the film serves as a reminder that love involves discomfort and, at times, a sense of struggle. For others, it offers a gentle warning that even the most well-meaning acts can change the dynamics of a relationship.
Conclusion: A Calm Reflection on Love and Transformation
Permission is a gentle, cautiously thoughtful film. It is unsparing and recognizes the ambiguities of love. It gives close attention to the complexity of love, where certainty is fleeting and emotions are always in a tangle.
Through gentle performances and close focus, paired with a fundamentally unspectacular script, the film prompts self-reflection. These are relationships of all kinds and all the bonds that constitute our identity.
In the end, Permission focuses on the questions that lie unspoken. It is about the limits we impose on ourselves and those around us. The quietude is in the question, “Is this enough?” If not, it asks, “Can we transform and remain in alignment?”
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