The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

What a surprise! The second film by very talented Joanna Arnow (she edited, wrote, directed, and starred in the film) is a symphony of ambient shame, with movements centred on the different men that Ann, the protagonist, has varied-length and ambivalent relationships with. She manages to hit a range of painful notes in these movements, from ritualised abjection of sensual humiliation to cutting corporate indignities.

Extremely original, astute, truthful, and humorous. I adored how the openly sexual material contrasted with the visual aesthetic; it gave me the impression of the female gaze in action. In over 50 years of watching movies and writing reviews it is time to say: I've never seen a movie like this and I truly enjoyed it. Check it out if you enjoy subtle character development and deadpan humour...

I saw this movie at the New York Film Festival and it had me cracking up. So completely out of the box, sharp, honest and hilarious. I loved the visual style juxtaposed with the frank sexual content - this felt like the female gaze at work. I've never seen a movie like this and truly enjoyed.

It follows Anne (Joanna Arnow), a Brooklyn woman in an unfulfilling, long term bdsm relationship (which bears a hilarious resemblence to her daytime identity as low level corporate drone) as she navigates her family, friendship and attempts at "vanilla" dating.

Would recommend if you like deadpan humor & appreciate nuanced characters.

This has been the worst movie I've seen so far. The camera work, the offbeat deadbeat delivery trying to be quirky, the lighting, nothing seems to fit.

The movie tries to convey how boring and dull life can be, and I guess I can see that, but the writing is very on the nose about it.

The acting kills me. People go to school for acting, and yet I see this film, where people talk like six graders so the viewer understands every word.

And then the mundane nonexistent storyline about a mundane life with weird nude scenes. It just finalizes this piece to something I'll definitely steer clear of. I'll probably won't give this director another shot, I'm sorry, you missed!

My advice: don't watch it!

P. S.: Apart from what Lena Dunham said or did in public, 'Girls' was a great show and this movie seemed like it tried so hard to copy that.

5 minutes in the movie, you get tired of the soulless aesthetic that is presumed to be cool but is just straight ugly and boring, let alone the 'story', which is non-existent. Apparently the director draws comics. She should stick to it as she failed to understand that, unless your name is Ozu, movies are something else than just static shots with heads talking. Sadly, this movie is totally devoid of humor, too, unless the deadpan pimply face of the lead actress, who is also the director, is thought of as 'humor'. Ultimately, the movie's self-complacency often devolves into crass caricature.

No wonder they say the industry is in decline. I read that the producer got a major award for it. Well, as long as they keep congratulating each other for mediocrities such as this, it will keep declining. It wouldn't be a big deal if this kind of self-satisfied millennial production did not bring us Trump.

What do we learn about the character from this film that we didn't know before? Not sure, except to say that she's moving through life not sensing like she's finding what she wants or is looking for. I'm not sure I've seen a sex comedy that was exclusively about sexual need and lack of fulfillment.

Joanna Arnow writes, directs, and stars in this. She's also frequently naked. Considering the description above you should understand the nudity is likely not present for titillation but to show the character putting herself out there for partners who don't anywhere near as vulnerable. The movie is about her dissatisfaction with everything despite her best efforts to change some things.

In that sense, I think it will be relatable to many. The fact it's not flashy and the performances are entirely of the natural, or subtle deadpan variety means it won't appeal to many. I found it quite funny but it took me some time to get a handle on her style which is described as 'mosaic' although I would have described them as a series of sketches as opposed to a linear narrative. I look forward to seeing more from Arnow if she continues to make movies.