Ovum

An entirely new and interesting premise for a story. The actors are unique and wonderful, and I felt seamlessly part of the unfolding narrative as an audience member.

I'm watching this creators career unfold with such excitement. This is the third film of hers I've seen, and they're all phenomenal. Do yourself a favor and watch everything she makes....I know I will.

Ovum is not a conventional indie comedy. Director Matt Ott has drawn on a number of influences in his debut feature to create a tableau of cinematic elements that promise to land him even more exciting projects. Ovum was written by Sonja O'Hara, who also stars in the film as Calpurnia Dylan, a young aspiring actress who decides to sell her eggs at a donation clinic for extra cash. The film then follows Calpurnia through this hilarious and at times, very difficult process.

While O'Hara has a talent for writing and storytelling, her acting leaves much to be desired. The plot of the film adds additional irony to her performance in the lead role, as it provides ample evidence that not everyone can do what they really want to do with their lives. Talent, ambition, circumstances, and luck are all solid elements of having artistic success. Though Calpurnia insists that her egg donation is acting research, it's pretty clear that things aren't going entirely how she imagined.

O'Hara's co-stars shine bright and lift the performance of the lead actress. Katie Morrison is a captivating presence from her first appearance on screen as Calpurnia's serial egg-donating friend. Laura Poe also shines as Calpurnia's donation recipient. Her character is a famous actor desperate to have a child. The relationships between these two characters and Calpurnia is the most interesting part of the film, apart from the music and cinematography, which are both great. The soundtrack is ethereal and sets a thoughtful mood. Ovum is deftly edited in order to maximize its strengths. The darkly comedic nature of the film serves the aesthetic choices very well. The first scene inside the egg donation clinic has a horror feel to it—something sterile and uncomfortable.

Ovum is about the choices we make to get where we want to be in life—to achieve our goals. The film more or less pulls this off, but falls short in the acting category. This seems to be a case where an emotional attachment to the project clouded its vision. One could interpret this as a solid reason why more artistic control should be given to directors in a given project. Art can be ruthless, and most successful directors are just that. Overall, Ovum is great little project with lots of quirks and eccentricities that add to its intriguing plot.

Ineresting premise. The acting is first rate. When we first meet the main character I thought this was going to be another oh hum mediocre movie. But this did not turn out to be the case. As the story unfolds we are brought into her life of complexity. The story line is true to life. The supporting characters add to the overall depth of the story. There is just enough spice and byplay to develop the intrigue of the plot. The script is well developed. The flow of lines is true to conversational English without excessive colloquialisms. Mr. Ott demonstrates a unique skill in capturing the vagarities of human life. This story is a wonderful addition to his career portfolio. Well done.

OVUM is a film that succeeds mostly in the off-beat strength of its very original concept: a struggling method actress endures the shocking and often bitingly-funny ordeal of egg donation in pursuit of real-life experience she can bring to a coveted role.

Sonja O'Hara (who also wrote the script) leads the way as Catherine, and like the character she portrays, Ms. O'Hara is sometimes sure-footed on-screen and sometimes unsteady. Oddly, its an imbalance that works in the film's favor: the unsteady moments feel more right and less 'acting' keeps her in synch with the character she embodies. Laura Poe gives the film's best performance as aging actress Isabella, providing tremendous backbone, depth and believability as the would-be recipient of Catherine's eggs. The instabilities of each character allow Poe and O'Hara to share a solid screen chemistry & relationship, one that dearly begs for more exploration especially given the motherly figure already being taken out of Catherine's life. Katie Morrison shoots adrenaline into the free-spirited Ellen with both barrels, her performance and Matt Ott's direction smartly avoiding the usual traps of such 'wild' personas, though its done at a pace that again sacrifices necessary depth and tenderness in Ellen's relationship with Catherine, especially in Ellen's key moment of weakness.

O' Hara's storytelling doesn't hit traditional beats: this is not a traditional story. It's dynamic & refreshing to see a story about women, featuring women, told by a woman, that's also uninterrupted by incoherent mansplaining. There's a bunch of laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of more subtle humor as well. While characters & relationships may demand to be bolstered, O'Hara's concept scores big on the 'fresh and original, with a twist' adage that makes independent film exciting. Not everything works and there's plenty of room to take the story or characters into darker territory, but huge credit to director Ott for letting the characters play in their world: the lighter touch he exhibits rightfully keeps the concept center-stage. There are many moments of budding brilliance in Dan McBride's cinematography, most notably in the fire escape scenes, the bareness of the revelation scene with Cat in Isabella's condo, and Cat & Ellen cavorting in the park. While not perfect, OVUM really shines as a labor of love for all involved— I left it with the sense that despite the obvious hard work and dedication that goes into making a film of any kind, this crew had a hell of a lot of fun and good times putting this together. There's a lot of talent on the rise in this one: O'Hara, Morrison, Poe, Ott & McBride are fresh faces & filmic voices to watch for. At a slim 85 minutes, OVUM is well worth the time spent to see something more than a little different.