Hollywood has the power to make your dreams come true — or end them. Gloria’s Cut is a darkly comedic short where a waitress working her way to the top finds out the hard way that fame and fortune are kept in an inside circle of the already-famous and fortunate.
A volatile aspiring actress spirals into obsession and violence after losing the role she believes was meant to make her, exposing the dark, absurd machinery of Hollywood along the way.
Gloria’s Cut, IMDB
We open on main character Gloria, covered in blood and slowly losing her mind after losing the part to the casting director’s girlfriend. She’s already living a nightmare, but not compared to the starlet that stops by the late-night drive-in she’s working at. Cut to earlier in the evening, Gloria (Olivia Gropp) and actress Lulu LaRue (Raleigh Tabora) go back and forth over Lulu’s lines and the best way to portray them in the audition. Gloria gives two heartfelt performances, where Lulu’s is rather flat. Good thing she’s already got the part! Unfortunately for her, nepotism isn’t something Gloria is very fond of.
Gloria’s Cut really makes you feel for the title character because she’s the underdog. Everyone can relate to wanting something so bad, but you remain stuck for one reason or another. Then when someone else comes in, living your dream and shaming you for not being “memorable” enough or “too common” to achieve it yourself, you snap. In a way, it’s a little release from that pent-up urge to stick it to the man.
This short is “Gloria’s Cut” in more than one way; it’s her actual audition, her actions with Lulu, and her ultimate rise to “fame.” Gloria’s audition tape is her take on the script, and her failed attempt at stardom. She physically cuts up Lulu after being told she’d never make it in Hollywood. Then, when she’s contemplating all that had happened with the crappy audition outcome and murdering a restaurant patron, Gloria quietly enters a state of madness, all on the brink of being famous for something awful.
Covered in 90s roadside nostalgia with old radios and neon lights, Gloria’s Cut is a fun and rockin’ look at desperation. In 15 minutes, Gloria goes from hopeful actress to pissed-off lunatic, taking out her frustrations on people who aren’t the nicest, but definitely didn’t deserve being killed. But in a way, just as Gloria doesn’t get to live out her dream on the big screen, those who take their fortune for granted don’t deserve to live at all. In that way, Gloria’s Cut is a great representation of Hollywood chewing people up and spitting them out, regardless of who they know or the connections they have.
For more on Gloria’s Cut follow actress Olivia Gropp on Instagram.
