Out of Season

Out of Season is a 1999 indie film made by an actual lesbian. It fits right into the movement of, “Lesbian! they’re just like us!” fiction. This is an admirable and necessary era of queer representation. But it’s not going to be the most interesting, is it?

This story of regular, every day lesbians begins when New York photographer, Micki travels to a small, East Coast town named Cape May. Micki is a transient type. She rarely stays in one place or with one lover too long. But Micki has an obligation in Cape May. She’s caring for her ailing Uncle Charlie. Charlie is also friends with one of few other lesbians in the area, Roberta. Initially, Micki and Roberta don’t get on. Roberta is wary of Micki’s love ’em and leave ’em attitude. But a mixture of chemistry, Charlie’s matchmaking and the simple fact that there are few lesbians in the area causes Micki and Roberta to embark on a relationship.

There isn’t much to say about the film’s story or look that isn’t covered in that summary. It’s exactly what you think. Or at least, exactly what I thought. It’s an indie gay romance. It’s a slow burn of character development and getting to know each other before falling in love. The structure of Out of Season is a good one, and executed well. But it’s not the most unpredictable film. From a basic summary, you can mostly guess ow this one pans out. And it’s the same with the film’s look and tone. It’s a cheap, 90s indie. The camera quality isn’t great. The shots aren’t that ambitious. It pulls off everything it needs to do. But I can’t recommend this film for its outstanding cinematography.

Perhaps the most notable scene is the sex scene. It’s explicit and sensual. This is rare for 90s WLW films. Most 90s lesbian sex scenes were shot by men. So, they’re explicit but not often romantic or accurate. I’ve still ran into a few 90’s sex scene where the director doesn’t know how two women have sex. Out of Season knows. And it’ll show you in a very well shot and romantic sex scene. This wasn’t something common for actual lesbian filmmakers. In 1987, the premier of She Must Be Seeing Things was met with criticism from lesbian feminists. The belief was that a film so sexually frank was exploitative and objectifying. In an effort to over correct from objectification, many depictions of lesbian relationships by women were pretty sexless. So, Out of Season’s lengthy, sexy female gaze lesbian sex scene makes it stand out.

But that’s really one of the only notable things about the film. Out of Season is a perfectly fine movie. It’s a great piece of lesbian representation by an actual lesbian. And it’s ahead of the curve on reclaiming lesbian sexuality by showing it instead of leaving it to horny men to depict. But this isn’t going to be a film I think about much after having seen it. There’s not enough about Out of Season to make it stand out from the pack of the hundreds of WLW films I see. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the film. I’m just of an age and in an era where depicting lesbians as normal people doesn’t really interest me. I know lesbians are normal people. Now show me lesbians being absolute freaks.

Overall rating: 5.5/10

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