Kissed (1996)
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70% of critics liked it
(20 reviews) -
65% of users liked it
(3,487 ratings)
In this strikingly original independent drama from Canada, a young woman finds that her obsession with death is challenged when she falls in love with a handsome medical student. Sandra Larson (Molly Parker) was fascinated with the dead from an early age; as a girl, she and her best friend would… More In this strikingly original independent drama from Canada, a young woman finds that her obsession with death is challenged when she falls in love with a handsome medical student. Sandra Larson (Molly Parker) was fascinated with the dead from an early age; as a girl, she and her best friend would find the bodies of birds and small animals and devise funeral rituals for them, though Sandra always took these adventures far more seriously than her compatriot. As Sandra matures into womanhood, her obsession with the deceased begins to develop a sexual component, but her necrophilia is not about lust so much as a spiritual yearning for the light and calm of death's embrace. In college, Sandra studies embalming, which allows her to study and embrace death on a daily basis, and she finds work at a funeral home owned by Mr. Wallis (Jay Brazeau), a man who in his way shares her obsessions. One day at a coffeeshop, Sandra meets Matt (Peter Outerbridge), who is studying to be a doctor; she senses that he knows her secrets, and a tentative romance blooms between them. But while Matt wants to "cure" Sandra of her intimate feelings for death, she finds that he's not capable of understanding her erotic nature, which is directed within herself more than outward toward others. Understandably controversial upon its initial release (though far more subtle and poetic than one might expect given the subject matter), Kissed was the first feature film from director Lynne Stopkewich, who previously distinguished herself as a production designer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Lynne Stopkewich
- Written By
- Barbara Gowdy, Angus Fraser
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Apr 18, 1997 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
Stopkewich has taken on a subject that can't help but be controversial but presents it in a way that is completely non-exploitive and non-sensational. . .it is lyrical.
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Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
It is a futile claim to make that Kissed is less about necrophilia than it is about the nature of obsession and addiction. Though this is a perennial (and often generic) theme in film, in Kissed it is uniquely characterizing.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Explores the intersection between sex, death and the search for transcendence.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
What makes this film standout, is that the subject matter is necrophilia.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Molly Parker
as Sandra Larson
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Peter Outerbridge
as Matt
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Jay Brazeau
as Mr. Wallis
- Joe Maffei
- Robert Thurston
- Amber Warnat
- Janet Craig
- Edward Davey
- Tim Dixon
- Bill Finck
- Annabel Kershaw
- Jessie Winter Mudie
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Natasha Morley
as Young Sandra
- James Timmons
