Dismissing new home-grown feature Zooey & Adam as "the Sean Garrity rape movie" seems all too easy.
Like the infamous "Dakota Fanning rape movie" (Hounddog, FYI), and other films referred to as such, the conflict of local filmmaker Garrity's third and latest flick stems from a horrific event: Young married couple Zooey (Daria Puttaert) and Adam (Tom Keenan) are camping when Zooey is sexually assaulted by a man in the woods while Adam is pinned down by another.
But just as disturbing as the crime -- which takes place minutes into the film -- is the aftermath, as seen through the eyes of Adam. While the two attempt to go on with their lives, Zooey soon learns she's pregnant. Since they had been trying to conceive for months before the attack, she decides to keep the baby -- regardless of its paternity -- and Adam is forced to live with that. Even more unbearable for our leading man is the fact that he was forced to helplessly watch as his wife was raped -- a trauma that will eventually eat him alive.
As a result, Zooey & Adam becomes more than a "rape movie." It's also a glimpse into the soul of a man tortured by a situation he couldn't prevent. Garrity has gone so far to further the film's realism as to shoot, produce and edit it all himself in the shaky, no-budget faux-documentary style that the makers of Paranormal Activity recently got rich off.
This gives the film a raw, authentic feel that's only enhanced by the fact that Keenan and Puttaert -- both committed actors who have a real chemistry, and show promise on the indie screen scene as well as maturity, (given their subject matter) -- were asked to improvise their lines. The lighting -- if you can call it that -- is dim, the soundtrack is subtle and even minor characters like doctors and cops are real-life Winnipeg professionals playing themselves.
At times, this approach is too stripped down -- there are some definite lulls in the loosely penned script and a street scene where Adam seeks revenge feels amateurish. Even so, with the emotionally intense Zooey & Adam, Garrity has somehow managed to make the four-sided love triangle that was his first film Inertia (2001) and sleep-deprived followup mystery Lucid (2005) seem trivial -- albeit, more entertaining.
While Garrity has never been one to stray from rocky thematical terrain, this is by far the most controversial of the three. The key scene comes quick, and while not graphic, it's still immensely difficult to watch. The events that follow are also unsettling -- Zooey's decision to have the baby brings forth a marital conversation that's uncomfortable to eavesdrop on, especially if you start to imagine actually having it with your own spouse.
It's no shocker reactions to Zooey & Adam were mixed when it played the Canadian festival circuit in the fall. Needless to say, the film is not for everyone -- and even those able to appreciate its genuine display of human emotions won't find it any easier to swallow.
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