The Unspeakable Act
Director: Dan Sallitt
Writer: Dan Sallitt
Cast: Tallie Medel, Sky Hirschkron, Aundrea Fares, Kati Schwartz, Caroline Luft
Part of: Viennale

Plot:
Jackie (Tallie Medel) is in love with Matthew (Sky Hirschkron). Which would be no problem at all if the two weren’t siblings. Matthew doesn’t share Jackie’s feeling – in fact, he just got his first girlfriend and is about to move to college. So Jackie tries to cope with the situation as best as she can, but she is pretty lost.

I read the movie’s plot description and expected it to be either a bid for provocation; or a movie that would be depressing as hell. Unrequited, incestuous love? What else could it be? Surprisingly enough, though, Sallitt manages to keep it lighthearted, sympathetic and basically makes it a touching coming-of-age story.

I did have my problems getting into the film. That is not only because I expected it to be different, but also because basically all of the characters are rather apathetic – apart from Jackie, who does get to be a little more emotional. Now, I’m not one of the most “heart-on-the-sleeve”iest persons myself, but I was pretty much desperate for a little more animation in the characters. [It went so far that I breathed a sigh of relief when Matthew has a discussion with a friend about whether Pynchon or DeLillo is the better author. Not only because it so perfectly encapsulates teenage intellectual discussions, but also because there was at least a bit of emotion there.]

I do think that my problem there lay with the direction, rather than the actors. Tallie Medel really is not a bad actress and I think that she could have gone a little bigger. [I’m not so sure about Sky Hirschkron, he was just wooden.] But it seems that Sallittt was just going for this basic phlegma.

Nevertheless the film drew me in, even if it took me a bit to get used to this weird rhythm. But looking back at it, it was the right way to tell this story. The way to stay with Jackie without judging and just seeing events unfold. And it was also a central point when Jackie’s therapist Linda (Caroline Luft) got introduced into the story. She adds an important focus, plus it was finally an extremely believable therapist in a movie, instead of a walking-talking cliché.

I do have to admit that about halfway through the movie I was wondering whether I actually liked it or thought it was a good movie, but by the end I was convinced that it was and that I did like it, altogether.

Summarising: worth watching.