By Anne Brodie | 10.18.24 | Excerpt from original article in WHAT SHE SAID

A handful of people wind up in a Manhattan bar. This isn’t a joke, it’s the concept behind a fresh, original film The Arrival, by Alyssa Rallo Bennett and Gary O. Bennett. The bar’s messy and empty otherwise as pairings and singles while away an afternoon. They’re all dealing with some kind of personal crisis. A journalist is interviewing a woman about a recent sexual assault by a man named River DuPont who used the phrase “effing Judas Priest” repeatedly. Two nearby women are discussing the rape. The bartender, an actress who can’t find work and is on a string of “bad days” serves tea to a male playwright who is attracted to her but respects the boundaries she quickly erects. “I’m in a hate men phase”, she says. He treats her gently. A young woman with great inherited wealth says she is alone in the world with no family members left. An overconfident man enters the bar and uses the phrase “effing Judas priest”. What a setup for an interesting couple of hours! And then we fly forward nine months. This quietly powerful outing will get under your skin.