Alex (Natsuko Ohama), a lesbian director, is trying hard to get her latest film off the ground, a kinky indie effort about a female tattoo artist who goes berserk and needles her lover to death. To aid in her research, Alex puts an ad in the paper, soliciting the aid of a tattoo enthusiast to act as a creative consultant. Said ad is answered by Chris (Keram Malicki-Sanchez), a shy young woman masquerading as a man, who finds himself (er, herself) drawn to Alex, and begins fantasizing about the filmmaker. When Alex promises to get a tattoo with Chris and then backs out at the last minute, Chris's mood turns ugly, and she (he) steps up his (her) obsession. Eventually Montana, Alex's long-time assistant and current lover, tries to warn Alex about Chris, but Alex assumes that Montana is just acting out of jealousy...until the stalking begins. The technical credits here are barely adequate, as are the performances, with the exception of Toronto rocker Malicki-Sanchez as Chris, who is completely clueless as to how to play the lead. I'm sure Canadian filmmaker Midi Onodera had something interesting to say about the power of obsession and the loneliness of sexual ambiguity; maybe next time she should try her hand at novel writing. Not recommended. (S. C. Nickles)
Skin Deep
(Water Bearer Films [212-242-8686], 82 min., not rated, $39.95) Vol. 14, Issue 4
Skin Deep
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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