A woman who thinks she’s straight falls in love with an out lesbian and has a decision to make. Sound familiar? I’ve seen more lesbian movies with this plot than all other gay-themed movies combined. But Rarely has the confused woman been as unsympathetic as Mia in Kiss Me, playing at Q Cinema in Fort Worth. Her younger brother Oskar, who’s too pretty to be straight, says, “Mia doesn’t like not getting what Mia wants.” I say, “Mia could give me bitch lessons!”
Visiting her divorced father and his new fiancée, Hurricane Mia manages to disrupt six lives, including her own, in just a couple of days. She brings along her own fiancé, Tim, with whom she’s lived for seven years, but before you can say “Mia Mia Mia” in your best Brady Bunch voice, Mia’s sharing a long, passionate kiss with Frida, her stepsister-to-be.
Director/co-writer Alexandra Therese-Keining includes lots of lingering scenes of the two 30-ish women together, looking into each other’s eyes or lying in post-coital bliss; plus long arguments about Mia’s hesitation to give up her marriage plans, while Frida refuses to be her bit on the side. That’s nice for the voyeurs, but does little by way of interesting plot.
Still, Kiss Me is beautifully photographed and well-acted all around. Even the writing isn’t bad, just overly familiar. But Mia’s selfishness may be too much for even the hardest-core romantic, and things fall apart in the last five minutes with a confusing climax and a finale that gives viewers the ending they want without
actually resolving any issues.
— Steve Warren
Plays June 3 at 4 p.m. at the Rose Marine Theater, Fort Worth.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 1, 2012.