Seahorses
directed by Jason Kartalian
starring Justine Waschberger and Ian Hutton
Marty (Ian Hutton) unwisely picks up a girl on Craigslist and a mousy, sacred woman knocks on his door. She (Justine Waschberger) enters, demands his driver’s license, accuses him of mass murder and then locks herself in the bathroom. Even though Ian is locked out they have soul-revealing conversations and she eventually comes out a totally different woman. He’s nervous and cowed, she’s a slightly insane control freak, but there chemistry. At least, he doesn’t boot her out or run for the hills. But she DID come from Craigslist and her baggage is piling up in the hall way. You know what they say about sticking it in crazy…
This is a beautifully shot and engaging love story tuned to our 21st century expectations. Waschbeger transforms smoothly from prissy to slutty; she handles her unwanted boyfriend (Orson Chaplin) with a sharpie and a pregnancy test, and her story is ultimately loveable. Hutton seem awkward, not sure why he did what he did and where it will go, but you can see how you too might fall into this rabbit hole of weird sex and weirder side effects. And Ian’s apartment is amazingly well arranged for a straight guy, but he does have a female confidant (Roxy Shih) who’s the sort of girl a previous generation might have called “high spirited”. But she gives good advice when she’s not busy. I’ll just say this about the sex scenes: You’ll never look at seahorses the same way again.
This film will be screened at the 2015 StarLite Film Festival at The Garden Theatre in Winter Garden, Florida.
