Exploding Oedipus

An exquisite, ballsy first feature by Marc Lafia, EXPLODING OEDIPUS bursts upon the screen with the dark and ominous beauty of an inky-black sunspot. The story follows Hilbert, a handsome young man who has dropped out of the mainstream to re-assemble his identity from the scattered pieces left by his swinging parents and his troubled youth. Holing up in a San Francisco flophouse, Hilbert begins a long, "lost weekend" of reading, reflecting and watching Super 8mm home movies to decipher his past and confront the spectral forces that keep him awash in pain. Experiments with drugs and modern art and gay sex with strangers on the street further his quest. The film's rambling plot and cryptic psychological through line are reminiscent of Mike Leigh's NAKED, but Lafia's San Francisco is distinctly new: a dreamy, atmospheric mindscape in which the odd ray of sunlight only enhances Hilbert's isolation in this multi-layered, sexy feature.

First-time San Francisco director Marc Lafia has created a beautiful and mysterious film that manages to be both artistic and accessible as it takes us deep into the hero's psyche in search of answers that may or may not be there to find. And a sensitive performance by Ramsay makes us care.