Love Object

Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

This film is reminiscent of last year's "May" for its exploration of a morbid sexual fetish in the terms of a cinematic genre. What gives this film a tremendous boost are its artistic aspirations, with a score of rich classical music and a d.p. who likes to play with film grain and repeated imagery. There's no denying the high degree of professional polish on this low-budget indie shocker, but look past the surface and you see a film that is only feigning confidence in the material; the cheap jokes and contrived scenarios are cracks in the wall, with the obnoxious detective and his 18 bullets being especially incongruous. But there's a very good film here for most of its running time, with a commanding lead performance by Desmond Harrington (I loved his nervousness when offering to write a manual for free), and willingness to consider his fetish and its consequences from numerous perspectives. This is a must-see for fans of the psychological thriller. (Ignore the Netflix description that misrepresents the plot.)

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