The Venus Effect review – a sizzling queer romcom without the cliches

A funny, heart-on-sleeve Danish drama that cleverly captures the complexities of coming out and queer identity with a character that wonders: am I gay enough to be gay? Technically, this film is a romcom – in that it is funny and romantic. But it’s not a romcom in the sense of adhering to the formulaic character types and well-worn plot beats that we’re used to seeing the likes of Jennifers Aniston, Lawrence and Lopez navigate with such aplomb. It is the story of twentysomething Liv (Johanne Milland) and her burgeoning attraction to Andrea (Josephine Park), and is a lovely, well-acted and sincere Danish independent film with plenty of humour; it wears its tender heart on its sleeve and hews closely to the form and style of a coming-of-age film.Nobody here is coming-of-age, though; they’re already-of-age, but in Liv’s discovery of her sexuality, perhaps it could be a coming-of-orientation film. The Venus Effect is strong on the things which matter in such stories: sizzling chemistry between the leads and likable characters you hope can work through their inevitable differences. It’s also good on rather more under-explored themes, such as the ripple effects of coming out in a modern family who aren’t going to disown you for homophobic reasons, but might nevertheless disappoint you in other ways. Continue reading...

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