''Friend Request Pending'' is a 2011 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

written and produced by Chris Croucher and directed by Chris Foggin. It stars

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

, and Philip Jackson. It was included in the feature film '' Stars in Shorts''.

Plot

Mary (Dench) and Linda (Ryder) spend an afternoon discussing the pleasures, pitfalls and problems with using

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

to try and woo the local choirmaster and Mary's new love interest, Trevor (Jackson). While chatting on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, Mary's son Tom (Hiddleston) IM's her, earning a response from Linda about wanting to "

poke Poke may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Poke (Ender's Game), Poke (''Ender's Game''), a fictional character * Poke (game), a two-player card game * Poke, a fictional bar owner in the television series ''Treme (season 2), Treme'' * The ...

" him. When Linda leaves to go to the market, Trevor finally gains the courage and asks Mary out. When Linda returns, she finds Mary has gone out with Trevor, and decides to do a little Facebook flirting of her own and decides to send a friend request to Tom.

Cast

as Mary *

as Tom * Philip Jackson as Trevor * John Macmillan as Jason, Tom's friend *Penny Ryder as Linda

Production

Development

Production began on FRP back in December 2010 when director Chris Foggin first approached writer Chris Croucher with the information that Judi Dench had agreed to make a project with him. Penny Ryder has been a close friend of Judi's for years, so when the offer came to play opposite Judi, as her best friend, she didn't waste any time saying yes.

Filming

The film was shot in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, England over the course of two days in May 2011.

Awards

The short film won Best Comedy Short at the 2012 Rhode Island Film Festival and received the Director's Choice Award for Best Comedy Film at the 2012 Ricon Film Festival. It gained the Audience Special Recognition at the 2012 Aspen ShortsFest, Short Film Honorable Mention at the 2012 Omaha Film Festival, and Special Jury Award for the Best Ensemble Cast at the 2012 Savannah Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2069775 British romance films British comedy-drama short films Films about social media 2010s English-language films 2010s British films