Ryan McNeil
Once in a blue moon, a person can look at you across a crowded space and strike a chord very deep inside of you. The sound that reverberates through your body when they do seems to ask you over and over “what if..?.”
What happens if you find out the answer to that question…even just once?
BELOW HER MOUTH introduces us to Jasmine (Natalie Krill). A well-heeled fashion editor with a great car, posh house, and handsome fiancee…the sort of woman who seemingly “has it all”. When her man goes out-of-town, Jasmine and a girlfriend hit up a lesbian bar on a Friday night. It’s there that she meets Dallas (Erika Linder), a roofer who she caught a glimpse of working on the house next door that morning.
The two are drawn together; Dallas feeling an undeniable attraction, and Jasmine fighting a “I’ve never done this before” hesitancy. One kiss becomes two, two becomes three. Soon Jasmine can’t concentrate on anything else and an actual date is set.
Over the course of one weekend, the women become deeply intertwined; sexually and emotionally.
Director April Mullen has added something beautiful to the landscape of film. Her love story – capture by a crew comprised entirely of women – feels truer, messier, and more vulnerable than most of what passes for romantic cinema these days. She knows that sometimes we grab hold of something awkwardly in a fit of passion, and that sometimes we say something silly the next morning.
She wants to use it all; give it all the full treatment and paint a new picture of what love-at-first sight means in the city I call home.
If I’m left with a question for Dallas and Jasmine, it’s this: BELOW HER MOUTH leaves no question about their sexual chemistry. In the heat of their moments, these two women are as-one; they slip into a give-and-take that most lovers can only dream of. Their sensual prayers are answered thanks to a whole lot of delicious sin. There is no question there. Instead, my question is this: what comes next?
I have a pretty good clue what happens on Saturday night – what’s the feeling on Sunday morning?
The filmmakers of BELOW HER MOUTH paint this as a love story – a declaration of bravery when we are strong enough to recognize love in all its forms. What is portrayed on-screen though is more like infatuation. Deep infatuation, and emotional infatuation to be sure…but more like craving, and less like completion.
Seeing Dallas and Jasmine try to cope with the absence of the other is intense, raw, and wonderfully understated. However, we are denied a glimpse at just what is truly missing. I believe those conversations took place – that there were more scenes at cafe tables, kitchen tables, boardwalks, and sidewalks – but we never see them, and so we’re left to take an emotional leap.
All in all, BELOW HER MOUTH is a good movie. It’s handsome, charged, splendid and sexy…but it could have been a great movie. There is no question what draws Dallas and Jasmine together; but there is much to be explored over what keeps them there.