Discreet

When you watch a movie that makes you shudder, gives you goosebumps, or makes you want to never watch another frame, there is no logical reason to say it is a bad film. And even less so when it is an excellent film as Travis Mathews's «Discreet.» There were even moments when I felt like I was watching a horror movie, but no, it was a realistic and devastating drama.

"Discreet" takes place during the years of Donald Trump's "narcissistic dictatorship." It tells the story of Alex (Mars), an aimless man who records videos on American highways and roads to send them to a Japanese woman (Okatsuka), host of a space for emotional well-being and mental health on social networks. Alex intends to reach Oregon and meet her, but on his journey, he stops at the house of his mother Joy (Cunningham), a drug addict in rehabilitation who reveals to him a secret she kept for decades: the man who abused him when he was a child is not dead, as he was led to believe.

The events that occur during the following 69 minutes (after some sordid events that precede them, related to that child abuse and, at the same time, alien to it) constitute Alex's revenge, set in the universe of a marginalized social sector far from the "American dream" and its followers, but as prone to crime as the privileged people of the socioeconomic, political and military structures.

I think that, as in the case of «Saló or the 120 days of Sodom» in 1975, the public was not prepared for "Discreet" in 2017, and the film sank into anonymity... at least I never heard of it. Apparently, American audiences are not yet convinced, as they give it a low rating. To me, that is an eloquent fact that speaks to the power of the film. Whatever they say, I highly recommend it, with the warning that some may find it offensive.

Director/Writer Travis Mathews ("Interior. Leather Bar" 2013) carries with him into this messy gay themed film, his Masters in Counseling Psychology. Alex (Jonny Mars "A Ghost Story" 2017) is a young man reeling from a childhood demon that controls his life. When he learns from his estranged mom (Joy Cunningham) that his abuser (the erie Bob Swaffar "Meet Me There" 2014) is still alive, he embarks on a journey to confront the guy. Guiding him through his cross country travels is self-help bacon sizzling video guru Mandy (comedian Atsuko Okatsuka). With several stop offs at an adult bookstore, and a fascination with young Zack (Jordan Elsass "Long Road Home" 2017), the ending for all is not promising. Wearing both director and writer hats here, Mathews tries to accomplish to much and falls short across the board. Why the fascination with bacon sizzling, an unclear association with Zack, why the stop off at the same bookstore when he's supposed to be traveling cross country, are just a few of the the films inconsistencies. Cross country cinematography (Drew Xanthopoulos) manages to capture Alex's lonely travels and despair. However, the film score by Mark De Gli Antoni continually sets up tension that never arises. Mathews may have a following in the gay film community, but "Discreet" will do little to gather additional fans.

I intend to view this film again and perhaps add or change to this review, as I am of the opinion that Mathews was trying to power-pack several different stories that were all connected. Such connections were sometimes explicit, other times highly implicit, and even on occasion imaginary or inexplicable, possibly all told in real time, possibly juxtaposing past flashbacks with present actions, hence my partial title of "uneven". The film is also surreal on a number of levels, aided by on-location filming, contrasting scenes of bright sunshine (where actions and events of the characters almost seem unreal) with dark-of-night montages and interiors. Jonny Mars is excellent and conveys complex dimensions of Alex, no easy feat given the character's largely taciturn manner.