Screenlife filmmaking, the process of telling a cinematic story entirely through characters’ computer screens, is the kind of gimmick that’s usually bad in theory and is worse in practice. There are smart exceptions, but the pandemic year we spent watching mediocre television produced over Zoom and the amount of time many of us are still professionally obligated to spend on video calls is enough to make watching them for pleasure sound like a daunting proposition.
The format is best…