CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME – QFest Review

This review originally ran here at We Are Movie Geeks last November when CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME played at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

As the title suggests CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME ( CLSASS ) is a whimsical examination of the lesbian singles scene told with a science fiction angle. With that angle the film carries on in the tradition of ALIEN NATION and DISTRICT 9 in using otherworldly settings and characters to comment on aspects of modern society. Like the classic alien visitor epic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL this film is in stark black and white and mainly takes place in an American metropolis. The film begins when Jane, a schulby twenty-something retail clerk, tells her therapist about an unusual encounter. Next we zip through the stars to a far distant planet and pick up a report from their version of CNN. Seems that the release of big emotions are causing some sort of hole in the planet’s ozone layer. To offset this, some of the inhabitants are being sent to Earth so they may get their hearts broken and release those layer-destroyers before they return home. Two aliens have already landed in New York City ( one is shy, while the other is uninhibited ). A third joins them and meets Jane in her Manhattan stationary shop. The two begin a tentative romance. Meanwhile two ” men in black’ government agent types observe them from an unmarked van. The aliens embark on several dating adventures before they must return home. Bur what will Jane do when she learns the truth?

CLSASS uses its low budget very creatively to give the feel of the old-fashioned Sci-Fi B movies. In a nod to Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE the spacecraft are simple cardboard models with the silver pie plates attached. The aliens have large bald craniums offset by short neck cowls emerging from jumpsuits. They speak in a high-pitched robotic monotone similar to THE CONEHEADS or TV’s Mork. Like Mork they don’t quite get Earth customs correct ( check out how they dance ) and have their own strange customs ( they show affection not by holding hands, but by holding noses ). The black and white photography gives the film an intimate and otherworldly feel. The effects are appropriately crude, but effective and the cast of unknowns bring a lot of energy to the satirical script. The film is an engaging mixture of low-budget science fiction satire and the emerging lesbian indie-film scene.

CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME  plays tonight, April 25th at 5:00pm as part of Cinema St. Louis’ QFest at the Tivoli Theatre (6350 Delmar Blvd. in the University City Loop district). Individual tickets are $12 general admission or $10 for students and Cinema St. Louis members with valid and current photo IDs.