Innuendo

Director Saara Lamberg has created a film that resists easy categorization, so I'll go with psycho-sexual drama.

Tulli and Suvi (both played by the deliciously off-kilter Lamberg) grew up in Finland, and were subjected to contrary parenting whose legacy is now being visited on Tulli, who has relocated to Australia (as Lamberg herself did).

Like its uncertain genre, it's also uncertain here what is autobiographical and what is fiction –– ultimately, it matters not, but the drama possesses a strong scent of earthy authenticity. What the audience gets is a whirlwind odyssey to Toxic-Town as Tulli emotionally and physically rampages through the lives of everybody she meets and annihilates.

As it skilfully sets up its premise, it skilfully fulfills its promise also with a conclusion that intelligently wraps up its many open sores.

With its stark and perverse humour, tangy eroticism, and detours into surrealism blended with kitchen sink drama, INNUENDO is the orgasm Aussie cinema has been begging for.

The film's production notes rather comically dare to compare this amateurish Indi piece to the work of David Lynch and Roman Polanski among others. These pretensions to greatness are sadly misplaced in this budget-priced flick which admittedly does contain a heady mixture of twins, chainsaws, nude modelling, murder and the most garish collection of wigs you are guaranteed to have ever seen continually paraded on screen. Does seem like a project with which Lynch might want to involve himself, but sadly folks, he's not there.

Writer/Producer/Director/Lead Actor Saara Lamberg clearly has ambitions to create an intriguing web of mystery for the audience with this tale of a Finnish twin leaving her supposedly dysfunctional family and travelling to Australia to start her life anew. A rather large hurdle she has to overcome however, is that she can't act to save herself and she's onscreen for much of the movie's running time. Go figure. Brendon Bacon, as the nominal male lead is a little more convincing as Ben, her chainsaw-sculpting companion in the second half of the film.

Special mention needs to be made of the soundtrack music by someone by the name of Charly Harrison. Suffice to say, it's nails dragged across a blackboard aurally excruciating. Its repetitive drone is dished up right throughout the film , challenging us to decipher the dialogue being spoken by a cast perhaps best described as enthusiastic, rather than professional.

One certainly has to admire Director Lamberg for obviously being prepared to devote so much of herself in getting this project to the screen, but I for one hope that any future works, see her anchored firmly behind, rather than in front of the camera.

I loved it . Quirky , original , well written and acted and shot as Indie flicks are in a style that doesn't pretend to be anything else . Loved the vividness and lighting in the pier scene, perfect direction and time of day . Congratulations to all . Look forward to the next one , 2 years is too long

An amazing talent which had me constantly thinking! Looking forward to her future work. The entire cast was excellent and the story line was so engaging. Just when you think you are on track with the story a new twist emerges! Saara is a fantastic talent and I wish her the best of luck!

The set up of Innuendo is that the heroine has left her religiously and sexually oppressive parents in her home in Finland, along with her favoured twin sister, for a life in Australia. Her past has rendered her a completely insular character, almost monosyballic, who repels or attacks almost all form of interaction.

Watching a character give nothing to anyone makes the film hard to stick with for a long time. I felt like I was getting nowhere, and not wondering 'Where is this going?' but 'Will this go anywhere?' Knowing so little of the backstory at this point, I didn't think Saara Lamberg's performance was giving me enough hint of what was hidden to hold my interest

Slowly, violence and weird fantasies start to creep in, and the film gathers more of a hold as it continues. Seeing more of the heroine on her own in more extreme situations, not just fobbing off all the other characters, also starts to suggest more her inner turmoil, which is the point of interest needed to focus everything.

There are some audacious scenes, painful and ominous and true scenes, and some strong performances. I think Lamberg is really good in multiple roles, it's just that for too long in the film, the screenplay (her own) keeps the character too barricaded. Ultimately Innuendo ends much stronger than it began, which is way better than the opposite, and has resonance. But much of it is a slog on the way to building to that point. Flawed but with value.