Friday, July 29, 2016

DVD Review: Accidental Incest

Accidental Incest is a surprisingly delightful and enjoyable film about two people who find true love and then find out they’re related. It stars Elyssa Baldassarri as Kendra and Johnny Sederquist as Milton, two troubled people whose opinions of themselves might even be lower than the opinions others have of them. That is, at least until the two meet.

When we meet Milton, he is desperately trying to keep his neighbor, Kevin, from breaking through his door. He addresses us directly, telling us Kevin is upset because he caught him having anal sex with his wife. The movie establishes an odd, quirky tone right from its opening scene, as the wife calmly tells Kevin she had to sleep with Milton because Milton had told her her hair looked nice. And during the opening credit sequence she gets kinky with Milton again as Kevin watches, and as Milton lip-synchs to the song playing. Also, all of this is in black and white. “I can’t feel anything unless I’m doing something fucked up,” Milton tells Kevin just before Kevin shoots him. (That’s a terrible special effect, by the way, but it’s okay, as that’s not at all what this movie is about.) Milton ends up in some version of the afterworld, which is presented in color, but is told by his guardian angel that he’s being given a second chance. Things aren’t going well for Kendra either, as she wakes up nearly naked in a cell in Mexico, and soon she too is shot and killed. Her guardian angel sends her back to Earth for a second chance as well.

Milton’s wife then leaves him, taking their daughter, and Milton doesn’t seem the least bit upset about it. Kendra leaves her husband, telling him she’s doing him a favor. “When you leave here, I’m going to kill myself,” Bob tells her. Kendra responds: “Oh, it won’t matter. I’ll be long gone from here.” It’s interesting, because you don’t think very highly of either Milton or Kendra at this point, but the movie will soon have you rooting for them. Milton and Kendra end up in the same shitty hotel, run by a kinky old lady, and it is there that they meet and are instantly attracted to each other. They both reveal that their fathers were sperm donors, and they make a blood pact that they won’t get married until they learn who their fathers are.

By the way, they each describe their first date directly to the camera, and are such delightfully twisted and kinky messes that the scene becomes hilarious. Their guardian angels watch with approval, making us wonder how aware they are of the film’s title. Are the guardian angels actually kinkier creatures than Milton and Kendra? Maybe so. There are lots of silly little touches, like during sex, Milton says, “Who’s your daddy?” Well, they soon learn (from a meth addict) that they have the same father. And that’s when the real love story begins! And yes, this is a love story.

Perhaps all romances should begin with beating up a meth freak. “Who’s your big brother?” Milton asks the next time they go at it, dressed as barnyard animals. And as far as darling pet names go, at one point Kendra calls Milton her chupacabra. But things get complicated when Kendra is kidnaped by her grandparents. Hey, that’s Michael Thurber as her grandfather! (I just enjoyed his work in Model Hunger.) Kendra’s grandmother has one of my favorite lines from any movie in the last several years. She says, “You see, everybody in our church needs to know everybody’s business all the time.” I love this movie, even before it rips on Scientology.

Sure, some of the jokes fall a bit flat, like the environmental discussion with one of Kendra’s old boyfriends and his current girlfriend, occurring while the boyfriend gives Milton a handjob under the table. It’s kind of lame. But most of the movie is really funny, and it does take chances, which I appreciate. Elyssa Baldassarri and Johnny Sederquist really go for it, and as a result, their characters’ world is fun to sink into. And at some point you realize you actually like these two characters. I should also mention the music. There is a great song titled “Kill Yourself,” and later there is another delightful tune that you seriously have to hear, no matter what your particular feelings about Nicholas Cage might be. And there is another humorous song during the closing credits.

Special Features

This DVD includes a commentary track by director Richard Griffin, writer Lenny Schwartz and cast members Johnny Sederquist and Elyssa Baldassarri. Lenny talks about the play, which was a one-act done off Broadway in 2012, and how the movie is very different. Interestingly, those asides to the camera are taken from the play. They talk about the characters, and the challenges of playing them, and also about the look of the film. There is a great description of the scene where Milton and Kendra meet: “It was like two rare or unique animals that were pretty much heading toward extinction that actually, like, found each other. And they knew that they were the same animal, and they kind of were like sniffing each other out in this scene.” That’s how all couples should feel when they meet, don’t you think? Then, I believe, all relationships would last.

The DVD special features have one deleted scene, which is actually another song, this one sung by Milton’s white supremacist lover. The movie’s trailer is also included.

Accidental Incest was directed by Richard Griffin. The screenplay was written by Lenny Schwartz, based on his original play Accidental Incest: Someone For Everyone. It was released on DVD on May 10, 2016 through MVD Visual.

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