I had heard good things about this film from my flatmates friend, so when we were told it would be screening locally, we took the opportunity to attend. As I am currently in my first year at film school, so I guess I am reviewing this film as both a popcorn eating movie goer and as a potential film maker. This is also my first review on IMDb, so here we go.
Written and Directed by Mekelle Mills, Zoe Misplaced's plot is reasonably straight forward and evolves around a three girl love triangle and for the most part it is diagloue driven. It thankfully avoids most the usual clichés associated with mainstream "lesbian" films, but in the wider context of "love triangle" dramas it does not break any new ground. The plot could have come off sharper if the editing was tighter, i.e.: a shorter over all duration. A good start, but unfortunately a longish ending. Over all, well delivered with a small twist in the tail.
With regard to performances, its a mixed bag. Hannah Raven Smith was reasonably solid in the lead and with the right material definitely has greater potential, but for me, Clementine Mills was the stand out performer, I enjoyed her scenes the most. The rest of the cast were mostly good, bit of over acting here and there but on the whole it was good. The dialogue was both funny and quick in some parts, whilst laboured and preachy (i.e.: actor reading a speech) in others. It worked best, when it wasn't trying too hard.
Production wise it is a very odd mix. Some of the scenes are really well shot, I would say as good as many bigger indie films I have seen in recent times. Then in other scenes its just, well, awful. I am not sure if this was a conscious "creative" decision to mix looks and styles or whether the film makers just ran out of money. But I found the shaky hand held camera scenes of the film really did distract from the story and made me a little light headed, dizzy even. Sound production was clearly professional and very enjoyable.
So in summing up. I think Zoe Misplaced is worth seeing, especially if you are interested in local (Australia) films and local film production. It would make a great film to view and critique at film schools. Ie: it delivers both good and not so good in equal measure across all facets (Script, performances and production) of film process. If you get the chance, make the effort to catch it. Thank you.
