Humor is subjective; it always has been. It baffles me endlessly when anyone tries to argue that a film that some people find funny isn’t funny. Others found it funny, you didn’t; end of discussion. I can absolutely see the debut feature from writer/director/editor/star Joanna Arnow, The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed, not connecting with some people, but I found it not only a genuine scream at times, but also refreshingly observant, bold, and audacious. With an unmistakable New York energy, it’s a work whose central character, Ann (played by Arnow), isn’t particularly outgoing but she’s very clear about her likes and dislikes and has no issues making them known, especially when it comes to sex.
For reasons I both do and don’t understand, people get uncomfortable when dealing with female sexuality in a respectful manner, and since Ann seems to enjoy being a submissive in a BDSM relationship with an older man named Allen (Scott Cohen), that likely isn’t going to make people any more comfortable confronting what the filmmaker is putting out there. Ann seems to be growing tired of her encounters with Allen, so we see her attempt to get involved with different men, most of them closer to her age in their mid-30s. At first, she only seems to be looking for others in the BDSM world, but then she meets the very vanilla Chris (Babak Tafti), who actually treats her like an equal, and it becomes clear after they are together for a while that she both loves it and hates it, even attempting to get him to be a little more dominating (which is awkward and very funny).
Produced by the great filmmaker Sean Baker, The Feeling That… made its debut in the Directors' Fortnight at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, and it’s the perfect calling card for this expressive and witty filmmaker who is not simply examining the sexual requirements of her character but the strange roles the human condition forces us to play at times. We see Ann at her dead-end job (we’re never quite sure what it is she or her company does) and with her abrasive parents (Barbara Weiserbs and David Arnow), who simply pass judgment on her rather than provide her any genuine support. As tragic and painful as that may sound, Arnow makes it humorous by not seeming to react to her parents’ passive cruelty in any way—she’s become numb to it. The performances are meant to seem somewhat flat, but that only seems to add to the movie’s expressive and distinct voice. (The actors who play Ann's parents are Joanna Arnow's real-life parents.)
The film is playing exclusively at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
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