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.
Review of Kelly + Victor
