By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Bruce La Bruce
Starring: Alexandra Petrachuk | Andreas Apergis | Angèle Coutu | Félix-Antoine Duval | Marcello Arroyo | Mimi Côté | Tania Kontoyanni
Country: canada
Year: 2021
Running time: 101
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768720/reference
Michael says: “Never one to play it safe, writer/director Bruce La Bruce (GERONTOPHILLIA; OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE; HUSTLER WHITE) pokes at heteronormative judgement, and homosexual narcissism in a classic b-movie disguised as an art-house indie. Dominic is a beautiful young man, living with his grandmother, and fantasizing about having sex with any comparably beautiful person he might meet in the laundromat. The sex, hot of course, isn’t the turn-on for Dominc, it’s the possibility of onlookers watching him, and his own reflection in the mirror. Because nothing turns Dominic on more than himself. Pausing at every mirror he passes by, and taking polaroids of himself from all different angles (the film sis set in 1972) it’s the precursor of the self-obsession with selfies and Instagram. When his beloved grandmother dies, Dominic discover that his mother, who he was told died in childbirth, is actually alive, living in the Quebec town of Saint-Narcisse (get the double-meaning there?) down the street from a monastery, where the monks in training spend their days skinny dipping in a nearby lake and engaging in the kind of horseplay that one doesn’t necessarily associate with monks. Dominic goes to reunite with his mother, who has been living in hiding after she tore apart her own marriage by falling in love with another woman. The locals refer to her as a witch, but she does recognize her son just by looking at him, much to the concern of the brusque young woman she is living with. While Dominic navigates the delicate balance of reuniting with his mother, and negotiating the clear attraction/resentment from Irene, Mom’s ‘roommate,’ (she likes to watch Dominic through the window as he pleasure himself while gazing at the mirror and taking polaroids), we also get to see what’s going on in the monastery. There’s a young monk-in-training named Daniel, who looks exactly like Dominic. He’s involved in a bit of an inappropriate relationship with Father Andrew, who conflates Daniel with Saint Sebastian. Dominic spies Daniel from the woods during one of the monk’s skinny-dipping forays, and puts two and two together. Not only was he lied to about his mother, he has a secret twin brother. When the pair finally meet, Dominic can’t believe his luck. He can actually, finally, have real sex with himself. That’s just the beginning of the melodramatic unraveling of the difficult situation Daniel is in, ultimately leading to a new kind of family dynamic for the main quartet of characters.
“If it sounds a little silly and over-the top, it is, but La Bruce plays it relatively straightforward, with just a wink here and there, that makes is strangely entertaining. Actor/stuntman Félix-Antoine Duval actually makes Dominic/Daniel into relatable, three-dimensional characters, as Dominic, consumed by his own beauty, but also confused and caring about those around him. He’s confident in his beauty, and doesn’t see anything unusual about his self-interest, nor his love for his twin brother, while Daniel is more of a naive victim of the religious order to which he has been shackled to since childhood, who gets his first taste of freedom upon finding Dominic, someone who truly cares for him. Tania Konotyanni is darkly over-the-top as the twins’ mother, and she and the rest of the characters add to the b-movie aspect of the film. It’s beautifully shot, in the woods of Quebec, and if you’re in the mood for something a little kinky and fun, it’s worth checking out. 3 1/2 cats“