Feminist horror flick ‘Felt’ not a fully formed film

Published 6:01 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Someone brings out a doll of Adolf Hitler in embryonic form, complete with hair and mustache. You know this is a film of very serious ideas because it’s unclear whether this is intended as comic relief or meant to be taken straight.

The doll is a work of art created by Amy (Amy Everson), the enigmatic character at the center of “Felt.” We encounter this listless young woman in dribs and drabs of plot, with particular emphasis on her unhappy encounters with men who like rape jokes and her habit of dressing up in masculine costumes while skulking around the woods.

She’s a San Francisco artist who creates with felt, including grotesque depictions of genitals. (Embryo Hitler is made of felt, too.) The life of the party, she ain’t.

“Felt” is a more-or-less experimental indie that feels a little like watching “Blue Velvet” from the zonked point of view of the Isabella Rossellini character.

Director Jason Banker (who co-wrote the untidy screenplay with Everson) succeeds at capturing the unbalanced world of Amy, as the film’s hazy, destabilized camera style conjures up the interior experience of someone seriously adrift. If only there was something — anything — interesting about Amy’s interior, we might have something here.

When Amy finally meets Kenny (Kentucker Audley), a docile, sympathetic young man, it looks as though things might turn around a little. The lack of chemistry between the two characters creates dead space, although it would be weird if they did have chemistry together — that would mean Kenny was on Amy’s faltering, incoherent wavelength. Audley, an indie filmmaker himself, plays the role so neutrally he could be thinking about another movie entirely.

The violent climax will surprise nobody, given the imagery already on display. And although the last 10 minutes explain why the film is being touted as a feminist horror film, I think we can wonder whether “Felt” might be as much about some very old kinds of male anxiety regarding women as it is about female psychology.

All of which sounds pretty harsh, but I’d give the movie more of a break if it weren’t for the improvised dialogue that grinds down scene after scene. Those scenes don’t look like a portrait of a debased culture; they look like actors searching for something insightful or funny to say. By contrast, Embryo Hitler is a well-formed idea.

“Felt” (11/2 stars)

A more-or-less experimental indie about a listless artist (co-screenwriter Amy Everson) who meets a docile man (Kentucker Audley) after some bad experiences with the male sex. The horrific ending will be easy to predict, given the movie’s pointed hints. A pretty incoherent outing; it’s like watching “Blue Velvet” from the point of view of the Isabella Rossellini character.

Rating: Not rated; probably R for nudity, violence

Showing: Grand Illusion