Director: Anna Emma Haudel
Writers: Anna Emma Haudel, Maria Limkelde
Stars: Johanna Milland, Josephine Park, Clint Ruben
Synopsis: The Venus Effect is a romantic comedy about daring to love ourselves and each other.
Everyone remembers their first sexual awakening. Whether you were like me and fell in love with an alluring Uma Thurman in 1997’s Batman & Robin, or found it later in life, it’s a formative moment that guides us through our sexuality. In Anna Emma Haudal’s The Venus Effect, a young woman finds herself questioning her own sexuality in a charming rom-com that doesn’t hold back on the complicated emotions that come with being your true self. A refreshing LGBT story that depicts love in its multiple layers of lust and care, that is welcoming of all walks of life.
If you are anything like me, I watched the trailer for The Venus Effect and within the first 3 seconds I was hooked, similar to how the film’s main character Liv (Johanne Milland), a freckle-faced plant caretaker, is when she first lays her eyes on Andrea (Josephine Park), a spunky bright-haired woman who stumbles her way into Liv’s life. From the outside, Liv has a perfect small-town life, living in a small but cozy apartment with her boyfriend Sebastian (Clint Ruben) and working on her family farm. She comes from a loving nuclear family who often sit down for dinners together. Liv is quiet, taking life in through the lulls of everyday life, tending to the flowers or wishing for a more active sex life with Sebastian. Her life is quickly turned on its head when Andrea makes an unforgettable impression on Liv, awakening new feelings inside of her.
After their first encounter, Andrea requests to borrow Liv’s car, to which Liv, who doesn’t appear to have a spontaneous bone in her body, agrees. It might’ve been the costume Andrea was wearing to the “pussy” themed party she was headed to, but their connection is instantly felt. Small smirks litter Andrea’s face, who is a few years older than Liv, as she can tell Liv is totally checking her out. The next time the two women meet is the following day; Andrea returns the car and makes her way back to her makeshift home sat in the middle of a field. Liv finds her way there, and sparks fly as Andrea requests to take Polaroids of Liv.
The beginning of Andrea and Liv’s romance in The Venus Effect doesn’t start out in a conventional way; after going to a wedding for a friend of Andrea together, they find themselves waking up still drunk in the back of Liv’s station wagon. Although Liv still very much has a loving boyfriend waiting for her at home, she can’t help but let her mind wander about her feelings for Andrea. In the morning, the two have their first passionate moment with one another, leaving Sebastian in the rearview mirror. Liv and Sebastian’s final moments as a couple come to an end in a surprising way that adds some much-needed conflict to the film, giving Liv some hard consequences to deal with.
What is so profound in the film’s 1 hour and 45 minute runtime is it’s a queer story that is accepting from the get go. When Liv reveals to her family that she is no longer dating a man, but instead a woman, there’s shock at first but never does the family degrade Liv or denounce her as their own. It’s worth noting that Liv’s only brother is gay, and came out years before she did. They are a family that is riddled with drama, later in the film their lives are shaken when Liv’s parents tell their children that they are getting divorced. By no means are they perfect, but their willingness to accept one another for who they are is refreshing, especially for their sexuality.
The Venus Effect shows Liv’s and Andrea’s relationship as deeply flawed, and that’s what makes it feel incredibly real. Head over heels for one another at one moment and breaking up with the other a second later, they show that sexual chemistry isn’t the only thing that holds a relationship together. Andrea is more experienced in being out than Liv is, and has more friends who are in the community. Often leaving Liv to feel like an outsider in her own relationship with her inexperience. Wanting a more quiet and reserved life butts heads with Andrea’s want for a city apartment away from rural life.
Where the film hits the brakes is with the drawn out conflict of Liv’s parents getting a divorce. A budding relationship gets lost in the mess of a hetero couple’s disinterest in one another. Liv feels that her life has slowly begun to fall apart after meeting Andrea, loss of friends, and now the family life that she had once held dear is falling away. For a large part of the film’s final act Andrea and Liv rarely have any interactions, or are even shown on screen together, almost making the audience forget who this rom com is even about. The film lacks moments that develop Andrea and Liv’s love, and even when the film ends on a tear jerking moment, it makes you yearn for a few more minutes with them.
Writer and director Anna Emma Haudal, along with writer Marie Limkilde, create a story that plays like a later-in-life coming-of-age story through a woman questioning her sexuality. Focusing on Liv draws the audience in with an everyday looking woman with tired eyes and a curious spirit. They do quite a bit of work in the first few acts of the film finding out who Liv is, which makes it all the more frustrating when her moments of self-discovery are cut too short. Andrea, who injects much of the film’s humor, lights up the script, and played by someone with a sliver less charisma than Park, would be much less entertaining. Paired with stunning cinematography from Valdemar Winge Leisner, their love is captured in a dreamy atmosphere that often feels like a fairy tale.
Overall, The Venus Effect finds a young woman in need of finding herself and coming to terms with life’s many obstacles. Enchanting lead performances make for an easy watch even when the film loses its momentum near its final moments. A welcoming LGBTQ story that finds its stride in the warm glow of new love and moments that make us human.
