Hey guys! Horrorella here...
Opening in limited release this weekend is FELT, one of the most challenging, beautiful and complex films you are likely to see this summer. It was directed by Jason Banker (TOAD ROAD) and co-written and starring Amy Everson, based in part on some of her own life experiences.
FELT is something of a thoughtful, emotional and cerebral twist on rape/revenge films, also serving as an exploration of healing and expression. Rather than focusing on the initial assault itself, it focuses on the aftermath. On the damage that it did to its lead character, Amy (Everson), and how she struggles to cope with the shadow that it has cast over her life, along with the ingrained misogyny that permeates modern rape culture. We don’t know much about the trauma that Amy suffered, but she gives us enough information to know that it wasn’t random. It wasn’t a midnight attack by a stranger in a dark alley or an empty parking garage. It was someone she knew. Someone she trusted. A scenario that happens all too often. And the psychological damage has left her lost, struggling to even remember what life was like before her heart was broken and her soul was fractured.
We see her friends trying to engage her, but to minimal degrees of success. Between bad dates and failed interactions – mostly with human garbage who decry roofies as a myth and excuse adopted by promiscuous women. Amy struggles to resume the role that she once played in social settings, and spends a lot of time by herself, working on her art, which is her only real coping mechanism. The film meanders along with her in a perpetual dreamlike state.
Amy’s art is a reflection of how she feels and her struggle to understand what this event has made her. It is a shield, a reflection, an expression, and a grasp at trying to reclaim what she has lost. She makes masks, suits, costumes – most notably a nude suit with a lifelike prosthetic penis attached. Through her creations Amy is trying to recapture any fraction of the power that she has lost as the result of her trauma. They are her means of coping and trying to understand and ultimately trying to come back to herself.
When she meets Kenny (Kentucker Audley), it looks like she might have finally made a promising connection. He represents someone supportive, respectful and kind, free from the all too pervasive misogyny and dismissive bullshit that we have seen from her interactions with other men throughout the film. She is finally able to begin to articulate what she has been struggling to get out through the entire movie, and we hope that she is on the path to healing herself and becoming whole again. But nothing is perfect, and some wounds run terribly deep. And as the film slowly builds toward its final, inevitable climax, it does so with a sense of inescapable dread.
Everson’s performance as Amy is fantastic. Banker employs a very intimate verite shooting style, following Amy through social interactions, but also through many quiet moments alone, creating art, sitting at home or walking through the woods. It is in these moments that she really brings the character to life, allowing us to see both her strength and her fragility in equal measure. It’s a fantastically complex portrayal, giving us a glimpse into the inner workings of Amy’s struggle and not just relying on shooting her as a broken, lifeless victim. Even though
Amy is consumed by the after effects of this trauma, she is not solely defined by it. She is funny and creative and weird and wonderful, but also scarred. Everson fully embraces each aspect and welcomes them into the character.
FELT offers a beautiful and powerfully affecting statement on trauma, rape culture and healing. Amy’s struggles highlight scenarios that women face all too often and that have become commonplace. The film really provides a beautiful and heartbreaking look at these issues from the perspective of someone trying to cope with the aftermath of a horrific event, inviting the audience to empathize with her and to understand her experiences.
