World Cinema HD: Strange Fits of Passion (Premieres)

[Sean Mota]

She' (Noonan) is a self-obsessed twentysomething desperate to lose her virginity but unsure of why or how or to whom. A `curl-up-in-front-of-the-fire-with-a-cup-of-hot-chocolate-on-a-winter's-night' film for the 16-35 year old bracket: self-important, but identifiable, and it leaves you with those familiar warm fuzzies afterwards. Noonan does a terrific job, leading a cast of essentially unknowns (with the exception of Johnson, who would achieve international fame with his role in the acclaimed The Secret Life of Us, for a similar demographic) through a searching script that has nothing for action movie fans. The `she' character is written well – we can spot her flaws almost immediately, but, as with life, it is up to the individual to address them, and the way she goes about doing that provides us with angst-ridden, often cringe-able humour. Successful at film festivals, romantic will love it, but critics might find it to be a difficult sell.