or, “Misanthropic Thanatophiles in Love”:
A spoiler-free mini movie review.
3.5 out of 5
“Kissed” is a bizarre but on-brand Canadian film, with Molly Parker (from Global TV’s “Doc”) in her first major appearance. It’s a drama that skews closer to video art, with a striking premise that eventually plays second-fiddle to a middling obsession plot.
But damned if it exists at all: a straight-faced movie about necrophilia. Jörg Buttgereit’s “Nekromantik” this is not – though both films share the same fleeting duration of just over an hour: an unheard-of runtime in today’s feature market. Plenty for director Lynne Stopkewich to poke her head in, make her points, and leave, in – fingers-crossed – the most memorable way possible.
The prologue is laudable: a snapshot of heroine Sandra’s youth & learned Wiccanness, growing from a respect for the dead into intimacy. Getting these details about the protagonist so early made me emotionally invested in the unorthodox subject matter – as did Parker’s fearless, Genie award winning performance as the adult Sandra (Genies are the Canadian Oscars, now called the “Canadian Screen Awards”).
[cont’d]
Kissed suggests that part of Sandra’s proclivity stems from the innocence of us all returning to the earth, despite our transgressions. There’s a refreshingly half-full mentality there – even with one minor character a pedophile (bringing to mind Todd Solondz’s “Happiness” from two years later). This optimism is also applied to the cinematography, with most shots framed ‘above the belt’, sidestepping explicitness. Kissed largely respects its characters as much as its viewers: the brief graphic moments included (particularly one explosive moment with Parker) stand out as retrospectively unnecessary.
On the living front, though, actor Peter Outerbridge’s Matt threatens to prematurely lower the film’s casket. Outerbridge matches Parker’s unusualness, but the character of Matt – a college dropout who challenges Sandra’s connections with the living – is underdeveloped & could have used more backstory. While the film’s first-person voice restricts the use of Sandra’s linear flashback structure with Matt, in its place, he interrogates her about things the audience has already consented to & moved on from (“What’s it like? Do you see their energy?”). As written, he comes across like a creepy emo boy instead of a kindred spirit, or misanthropic thanatophile in love.
Kissed may not be narratively strong (Matt is an unlikeable character; you can guess the ending) and certain shots superfluously sleazy, but it’s still thematically perennial & rich, ripe for discussion even thirty years on.
//wd 7.5.2025
Cover of the North American DVD release sourced from dvdlady.com (unsponsored). As of publication, Kissed is available one of two ways: either as physical media in a thrift store bargain bin; or by ‘other means. I can vouch for this one.
theory of a daskeman 