Sexual Dependency

As far as I know, Sexual Dependency is the first movie to be shot entirely in split-screen (with the exception of one short sequence). And, as it turns out, there’s a reason it’s never been attempted before. The device turns out to be nothing more than an eye-catching gimmick presumably designed to attract interest at film festivals such as this one. The split-screen effect does nothing to advance the plot, and is more of a distraction than anything else. The film’s lack of a linear narrative is exacerbated by the fact that there isn’t a single compelling character to be found, unlike stylistically similar movies like Short Cuts and Magnolia (which were chock full of intriguing figures). Director Rodrigo Bellott does an acceptable job of presenting these five stories, but in not giving us anyone to care about, Bellott essentially winds up shooting himself in the foot. Initially, Sexual Dependency seems as though it might just have something, as the first character we meet is a poor Bolivian girl that’s eventually raped at a party. Her plight was certainly heartbreaking, but the film quickly segues into a Larry Clark-esque look at a group of immoral teenagers as they spend the night partying. And it’s all downhill from there. If Bellott’s intention was to fill the screen with truly repugnant characters, he’s succeeded. We’re never given a single reason to care about any of these people, which turns the film into a grueling and arduous experience. That’s not the worst of it, though; just when it seems things can’t get any worse, the movie shifts gears completely and focuses on an interminable monologue given by a black college student that was raped. Her lengthy diatribe, in which she talks about her loss of identity after the rape, is one of the most pretentious things you’re ever likely to see outside of a feminist rally. It stops the movie dead in its tracks, and completely kills any momentum it had been building up (not that there was all that much, really). Sexual Dependency does, however, boast an appearance by former Home Improvement actor Zachary Ty Bryan as an arrogant jock. His presence is enough to raise interest for a little while, but really, this is the sort of arty movie that one tries to avoid during a film festival.

* out of ****