Kelly + Victor

I did some research on the films that were screened at SXSW, but the details that describe Kelly + Victor do not prepare you for what is in store. The first thing that I found to be particularly odd was the light speed at which their relationship began. Kelly (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) is this petite little thing who comes across innocently enough at first glimpse she could be the shy little girl next door. The story begins as she prepares to go out for the night and she encounters Victor (Julian Morris) in a night club and comes on to him completely unhindered by any coy social standards or order. This film wasted no time getting to the gratuitous sex and there was nothing shy or coy about the adult themes such as drug use, nudity and the nature of abuse. As Victor says in the film, it got intense. The most provocative theme of the story was the dynamics of abuse from sadomasochism to abusive relationships. It was an interesting backdrop to how everyone seemed to be meandering through their otherwise ordinary lives while all these other damaging factors invade. Many of the sequences in the story made me tilt my head as if that would make it easier to understand the conversation, much of which was indiscernible due to the heavy accents. Since much of the themes were difficult to appreciate it made relating to the characters difficult as well. I was sympathetic to Victor but that may be because I immediately recognized his portrayer Mr. Morris from one of my favorite guilty pleasures Pretty Little Liars. I was not a fan of what seemed like a hodge-podge of images thrown into the film as visual fillers, having seen a group of flittering gnats once in a film is enough more than that is just as I said earlier, filler. However, I did like the retrospective style of storytelling that detailed how an event or situation unfolded. If the intent of this story was to get people talking about some taboo topics then it was a success, since Catt and I talked about the impression it left on us for most of the evening after having viewed it. Kieran Evans the director was in attendance at the screening and was very happy and honored to have his film's US premiere take place at SXSW. I am glad to have experienced it, but am undecided about who I could refer it to if anyone.

I saw this at the Dublin Film Festival just because it was on before another film I wanted to see. The film blew me away and was my favorite of the festival. The film follows the troubled Kelly and Victor as they become deeper and deeper involved in an affair which was passionate but destructive. Throughout the film its never made clear whether this is love or lust and this is one of the films strengths.

The film is challenging and at times shocking but also has moments of haunting beauty. Stylistically the film is definitely a mix between a grimy realism and a more lyrical poetical style plus the sex scenes which are quite intense. Plus a note about the acting. Don't look what the two leads have done before, their performances are totally stunning and brilliant.Also the film never feels the need to make anything explicit. There are hints about the characters past but much like in Shame, these are implicit hints which trust the audience to be smart enough to piece together. This is a film which will stay with you long after the credits roll

Interesting, fairly original central plot, but there is a large degree of inevitability about the conclusion. The central relationship in the movie is reasonably interesting and not at all the average male-female relationship. However, this gives you a fair indication of how it is going to end. This, and some other scenes.

This significantly reduces the impact of the final scene.

The plot is also a bit unfocused. Too many sub-plots that go nowhere. Too much drifting at times. More time should have been spent on the main characters and their relationship, and less on secondary characters and events.

Decent performances, however.

I really thought that there were some things that were out of bounds in the film genre, but I guess I was wrong. This film gives one explanation on how some men can get addicted to erotic asphyxiation. There is a sentence I thought I'd never say. Kelly (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) is a strange girl who apparently grew up with some major issues. I mean, I have had some wild times in my day, but nearly strangling someone during sex is not anything that I have ever thought about. Strangling them after we were done, now that's a different story (smile). Kelly looked like she was about twelve years old. She was really super thin and had absolutely no shape about her. At one point she was sitting in front of some food and I was thinking, please let this poor child put some kind of nourishment in her mouth. Apparently the lack of sustenance did not hamper her ability to over-power; I guess she had the same bone structure as Wolverine. As for Victor (Julian Morris), he seemed like just an average single guy looking to score. He hooks up with Kelly who introduces him to this violent form of sexual expression. I guess you don't know what you like until you have it for the first time. Things get even tougher if it becomes an obsession and everyone knows how hard it is to kick when you are obsessed. Not only was this an independent film, but it was a foreign film as well. There was a lot of sex and nudity in this film, but that is not unusual for films from other countries (especially Europe). I can remember seeing nudity on television at a very young age (not sex; but just body parts) and it seemed normal. It always makes me chuckle when movie-goers are surprised when an unexpected body part flashes across the screen. I am glad that we are not giving ratings for this film because there were times that some of the scenes were uncomfortable to watch. The one thing that I will give the director is that he did manage to touch on a subject that is not well known and possibly misunderstood. Luckily, I watch enough of Crime Scene Investigation stories that I have seen this affliction before. I am not sure if this film will be in wide release in this country, but it may do very well in Wales.

I was interested in this because it was mostly shot locally. It's a slow burner with some really weak scenes along the way, but it builds in masochistic tension quite impressively and has a well worked climax (smirk). Campbell-Hughes doesn't carry with her the normal type of sexual charisma that erotic films usually need. Instead she's got this subversive thing that keeps you on edge.

There's something 'everyman' about Julian Morris that makes you identify with him but he can occasionally border on the amateur in some of the weaker scenes.

A mixed but worthy addition to the UK indie scene.