Review: Felt

A recurrent and primary image in Felt involves a young girl in a pale, skin colored suit with a freakish, burlap sack for a face and a giant phallus dangling between her legs. It is a striking, disturbing and provocative image that embodies this unique tone poem of a film.

Director Jason Banker works closely with Amy Everson who plays a young woman parsing through a trauma she has experienced. We never get specifics on what happened but it is clear it involved a man and his sexual advances. Rape is never mentioned but one infers it from the dark direction the film takes.

Shot in an improvisational manner, the film is not for the impatient. Scenes meander as the actors improvise conversations. Some moments are real and effective, others feel like we are watching a practice exercise in a college acting course. The film is best when it loses itself to Amy's wondering around in the woods and scenes where she comes in contacts with men and must try to express her anger. The film ambiguous tone fits Amy's struggle to express what is damaged from her past experience. 

As Amy meets a young man and develops a relationship, the filmmakers feel the need to throw in more explanatory dialogue, almost to the point of reciting a manifesto for the character. There is also a thriller type tone that overtakes the last act that feels inappropriate given the first half's more naturalistic tone. 

Overall Felt is a film you wont' likely forget. It holds a powerful portrait of a damaged woman, made so by male force. The film's strength is how it does not judge Amy for her behavior and instead watches with empathy. While I feel the third act loses its way, the film is memorable and haunting.

3.5/5