PETIT MAL REVIEW (2023)
Initially, I went into this movie intrigued because who wouldn’t want to watch a poly lesbian throuple go about their day-to-day lives…well, I jumped in with much optimism only to become very uninterested.. it felt like it was trying too hard to be artsy fartsy.
When my phone died I was pretty relieved. What almost had my mind made up that this was not a good movie was when they didn’t show areola in the erotic shower scene. I almost gave up but one cannot write a movie review without finishing the entire thing and halfway thru, it actually got its shit together!
I am glad I committed to watching the whole thing because it turned out to be very cute and whimsical. An insight into what it would be like in a lesbian throuple relationship …well one of them. They are all unique, after all.
Dark Star Pictures will release Spanish director Ruth Caudeli’s Tribeca title “Petit Mal” in theaters on Jan 27, 2023.
“Petit Mal,” written, directed, and starring Caudeli alongside Silvia Varón and Ana María Otálora, will also be available on Jan 31, 2023.
Anto, Marti, and Lai are a throuple blissfully living together in a remote house, with nothing but their beloved bundle of dogs keeping them company. When Lai leaves for a work trip, the balance is thrown off and Marti and Anto must adapt to being just the two of them. Suddenly, the dreaminess of their secluded home becomes isolating, and all they have to rely on is each other. In the spirit of honest and vulnerable openness, this semi-autobiographical blend of documentary and fiction from writer-director Ruth Caudeli is an invitation to experience the intimate details, both unique and universal, of the ups and downs and shifting dynamics in a polyamorous relationship.
The pic, which screened Tribeca, Frameline, and over 30 more worldwide, is a must-see one-of-a-kind LGBTQI release inspired by the filmmaker’s own life.
Says Caudeli, “I am in a polyamorous throuple. The three of us live happily together. But it was very difficult when we started our relationship. There are no audiovisual or narrative references. We didn’t feel represented on screen and we felt there is a lack of diverse stories about love stories. So I wanted to represent myself and my relationship on screen. And that became a way to represent diverse women as well. That’s why I make movies, to represent what is unrepresented, to show that we as women are different, and complex and we need to be written by ourselves. It’s time to tell our own stories.”
