Lust Life Love

Directed by Benjamin Feuer and Stephanie Sellars, Lust Life Love follows bisexual blogger Veronica Willow (Sellars) as she’s forced to question certain aspects of her lifestyle after meeting and falling for an unhappily married man (Jake Choi’s Daniel). There’s little doubt that Lust Life Love improves rather considerably as it progresses, as the movie, written by Sellars, suffers from a hit-and-miss, rough-around-the-edges opening stretch that contains few elements designed to wholeheartedly capture the viewer’s attention and interest – with the arms-length vibe exacerbated by the somewhat low-rent and styleless bent of Feuer and Sellar’s visual sensibilities. It’s clear, however, that the picture’s less-than-spellbinding stretches are offset by the compelling, ingratiating performances and seemingly authentic atmosphere, with, in terms of the latter, Feuer and Sellars offering up an eye-opening (and fairly irresistible) look into New York City’s hedonistic underground. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that Sellars delivers a top-notch turn as the intriguing central character, with the actress’ bold work here going a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s various deficiencies.) And although the picture closes with a third act that feels almost incongruously conventional, Lust Life Love nevertheless comes off as an erratic yet satisfying piece of work that bodes well for Sellars’ future endeavors.

**1/2 out of ****