The Crush is a 2010 short film (15 minutes long) from Ireland, directed by Michael Creagh.
Ardal Travis is an eight-year-old schoolboy with a crush on his pretty young teacher, Miss Purdy. He reveals his feelings by giving Miss Purdy a ring, which she accepts with good grace. When his parents tell him that 16 years old is the minimum age for marriage, he makes a note in his journal that he will marry Miss Purdy on his 16th birthday.
Ardal's dreams of romance are shattered one day when he and his mom are out and about and he sees Miss Purdy, wearing a considerably more expensive ring, and in the company of her fiancé Pierce. Broken-hearted, young Ardal decides to do something about it.
Namely, he gets a gun from his father's closet.
No connection to feature film The Crush.
Tropes:
- Dirty Coward: Pierce comes completely unglued at the sight of Ardal's gun, crying and begging for mercy.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: Pierce is already white-faced with fear after Ardal says that the gun is real and he got it from the closet of his father, a cop. But when Ardal cocks the hammer Pierce breaks down completely, dropping to his knees and sobbing that he doesn't want to get married and he only asked Miss Purdy because she's been nagging him about it.
- Establishing Character Moment: Short films don't have a lot of time to waste and must establish characters quickly. When we first meet Pierce, he complains about how expensive the engagement ring was, then he refuses to take Miss Purdy out for lunch, insisting on going home to watch soccer. He is established as far from the ideal boyfriend.
- Idiot Ball: It really was awfully stupid of Ardal's father to get him a toy gun that looked that realistic.
- Ironic Echo: When condescending to Ardal, Pierce says that Ardal can't marry Miss Purdy because he can't financially support her. At the end, when Ardal tells Miss Purdy he doesn't want to marry her anymore, he repeats that as the reason why.
- Kubrick Stare: Ardal does not take it at all well when he sees Miss Purdy with Pierce and finds out she's engaged. He does this again when pointing his gun at Pierce during the showdown.
- Mood Whiplash: A seemingly whimsical tale of an 8-year-old boy in love with his teacher takes on a much different tone when we first see the gun.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: Ends with Ardal and Miss Purdy walking off down the road, her escorting him home after she angrily broke up with Pierce.
- Precocious Crush: Ardal is besotted with his teacher.
- Repeat Cut: Ardal's infatuation with Miss Purdy is dramatized by a Repeat Cut where she twice turns away from the blackboard and smiles at the class in a particularly winning manner.
- Returning the Wedding Ring: While staring down the barrel of Ardal's gun Pierce admits that he doesn't want to get married and only asked Miss Purdy because she was pestering him. After Ardal reveals that the gun is a toy, Miss Purdy angrily hurls the ring down at Pierce and walks away with Ardal.
