Film Review: Eric England’s ‘Contracted’ Can’t Keep Itself Together

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Average: 3 (2 votes)

Eric England’s “Contracted” has the potential to turn into a truly disturbing slice of bodily horror a la some of David Cronenberg’s best work. The tale of a lesbian woman who literally starts falling apart after a sexual encounter at a party could have been a commentary on sexuality, a riff on our national obsession with looking perfect, a cautionary tale about drinking, or even just a twisted slice of grotesque horror. It ends up all and none of the above thanks to a dull script and style-less direction from England. The filmmaker is lucky that the fearless Najarra Townsend keeps the piece from crumbling entirely.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

Townsend stars as Samantha, a girl who seems like she might be on the edge of a mental collapse before the physical one that overtakes her in the film. She’s leaving messages for her girlfriend Nikki (Katie Stegeman) that are going unanswered and seems a bit rattled, the perfect target for a scumbag at a party to take advantage of her. The way the unseen gentleman hands her a drink at the party that Samantha claims to not remember having and her protestations in the car certainly imply that this one-night stand could be defined as rape but Samantha seems to blame herself for the interaction (and England never takes thematic advantage of the concept of how often rape victims feel shame, using the secretive encounter as a plot point instead of a character-driven or emotional one.)

StarRead Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Contracted” in our reviews section.

Samantha wakes up the next day feeling colder than she should in the house she shares with her mother (Caroline Williams), a cartoonish creation by England who never comes close to realistic in the way she pushes her increasingly ill daughter away purportedly because she’s had drug problems in the past and possibly even because she doesn’t like her lesbian lifestyle. Having the chills would be preferable to where Samantha’s body goes from here. What starts as a heavy menstrual flow becomes notably worse when Samantha’s eyes turn bloody and her teeth start falling out. See, kids, sex is bad.

There are hints at the movie that “Contracted” could have been if England had a firmer grip on tone. Believe it or not, there’s a VERY black comedy buried in here – such as when Samantha’s waitressing gig results in a tooth in a customer’s food or a very clever use of title cards to indicate the pressing time. But “Contracted” has far too many dull passages of dialogue to link its bodily horror. The scenes between Sam and her mother sound like a cautionary ABC Family movie, the relationship scenes are flat, and the character of Riley (Matt Mercer), the guy who always loved Samantha, is just one of many who doesn’t respond in a logical way when Samantha gets sick.

StarContinue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Contracted” review.

“Contracted” stars Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Alice Macdonald, Katie Stegeman, Matt mercer, Charley Koontz, Simon Barrett, and Ruben Pla. It was written and directed by Eric England. It opens in Chicago at Facets on November 29, 2013.

Contracted
Contracted
Photo credit: IFC Midnight

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