Indy Film Fest: The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick
Cinema of agitation succeeded in agitating critic Alec Toombs.
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Note: At the request of the filmmakers this is a capsule review as opposed to a full one.
“The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick” opens with a quote from Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann: “A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.” It’s a truthful notion, but I have no idea what in the hell it has to do with Pete Ohs’ picture.
Yvonne (Zoë Chao) reaches out to her college gal pal Camille (Callie Hernandez, sporting a strange Aussie accent – perhaps that’s the Luhrmann connection?!) when tragedy befalls her. She wants to escape the city by joining Camille in the country. Camille invites her over and Yvonne arrives to find her friend socializing with other friends A.J. (James Cusati-Moyer) and Isaac (Jeremy O. Harris). Weirdness abounds from here.
“TTBoBBbaT” is cinema of agitation and it succeeded in agitating me. It’s reaching for David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” (a film I also dislike), but mostly I just wanted to erase it from my memory. It’s 80 minutes and felt like eight hours. This most assuredly wasn’t for me, but I suspect there are niche audiences that will enjoy and get something from it. This one’s gonna be divisive.
While I disliked the work, I must commend Ohs for co-writing (alongside Chao, Hernandez, Cusati-Moyer and Harris – methinks there was an abundance of improvisation afoot), shooting, editing and directing it. He’s the author of this thing for better or worse and he’s owning it.
I’d encourage y’all to check out “TTBoBBbaT” at Indy Film Fest and hit me up afterwards telling me how wrong I am and that I just didn’t get it. You just might be right.