Opposites Attract and worlds collide in the sweet Romantic Comedy ‘What a feeling’
Sometimes we find love in the most unexpected places. Following a chance encounter during a traffic incident, Fa and Marie Theres find themselves on the bumpy road to love in ‘What a feeling’ from writer/director Kat Rohrer.
Marie Theres is a doctor, wife and mother to a teen. She lives a life of control and order and alongside her high society friends, will gossip about you the moment your back is turned. Her life all seemed to make sense until her husband returned from a nature trip and decided not only was he quitting his job as a lawyer but was also leaving Marie. She has the rug of her well-ordered life pulled from under her feet, sending her into a spiral. After a night of heavy drinking, she stumbles drunk into a local lesbian bar where she meets Fa.
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Fa is an artist, a creative and a free spirit. Basically, the exact opposite of Marie Theres. She has two siblings and an elderly Iranian mother. Fa and her siblings take care of their stubborn mother who is starting to experience health problems but refuses to accept help. Fa is a charming ‘Player’ who refuses to be tied down and never spends the night. Instead, she delights in providing pleasure to her ‘customers’ while their husbands are away.
Despite having quite a simple formula, it can still be notoriously difficult to get the rom com balance right. And while this had the right ingredients, I found it lacking in the ‘comedy’ category. There were a few funny moments, but nothing that genuinely felt comical.
From Fa suffering homophobic abuse in the streets of Vienna, to Marie Theres dealing with unwanted sexual attention from her boss at the hospital. All the while, simmering just below the surface are protests outside the Iranian embassy, demanding rights for women. This really felt more like a Romantic Drama to me.
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As someone with little connection to the LGBTQIA+ community, there were some small insights I found interesting. For example, when the local lesbian bar owner Bigi politely asks a gay man to leave the bar as the women prefer to have their own space. And he replied, ‘I thought we were the same team’. And also, how even a loud and proud lesbian like Fa could still be afraid to reveal herself to her family for fear of being rejected by her mother and wider community.
What a Feeling is lovely story centered around the idea of never being too late to find love. It’s grounded in some harsh realities while still delivering a charming story full of heart and sweet moments.
‘What a Feeling‘ is screening now at the BFI Flare Festival in London. General release date TBC
