Zerophilia: Change is Good

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****½

Once in a while a movie, little seen theatrically, snowballs into something approaching a classic. I would nominate Zerophilia for this category, except for the fact that I suspect its transfer to DVD was botched. When "Play Movie" is pressed, it keeps giving you the "Special Features." And since I have now rented the film twice, from two different sources, I feel confident that something went wrong. If this should happen to you, I beg you to struggle until, by pressing every button on your remote and your machine, you entice the "Play" to actually play. It's worth the effort, for this little diamond-in-the-rough--an American independent of which everyone connected should be proud--has more originality, intelligence, spunk and sass than maybe anything else released to DVD this year. (There I go, damning it with faint praise.)

Zerophilia is a teen-age sex comedy about love and gender, with emphasis on the latter. And that makes all the difference. There are so many surprises along the way that the less you know about the plot, the more you'll enjoy its clever twists. Writer/director Martin Curland has made only one other film--a short--but he has managed here to come up with an idea that is simply brilliant, and which he takes in directions witty, loopy and meaningful that no one else has attempted--let alone succeeded in so boldly and entertainingly. The very homemade quality of the movie belies its achievement and allows it to sneak up on you. And the cast, with the exception of Taylor Handley (mostly TV: "The O.C." and "Hidden Palms") and Alison Folland (All Over Me, Things Behind the Sun), are complete unknowns to me. Yet they all do a remarkable job of capturing these most unusual characters--and the bizarre hoops through which they must continually jump--with believability and charm. A special word must be said about Gina Bellman, from the Brit TV series Coupling, who moves from seducer to doctor to oh-my-goodness with beauty, aplomb and finesse.

A knockout by any standards, Zerophilia should blow your mind with the many possibilities it presents. Perhaps you’ll wonder, as I did, how it might be to experience what happens to these several characters? This is not, by the way, a "gay movie," although it speaks to gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgenders in a manner than most movies don't come near. (Of course, it's the mainstream, "normal" audience that the movie really wants to reach.)

Once you've finished the film, be sure to watch those special features. The interview with Kelly Le Brock, who gets far too little screen time for my taste, is wonderful, as are all the others. Done with tongue firmly in cheek, these will have you smiling all over again. If only life could be so rich and surprising.