Let\u2019s start at the beginning, though. Colin (Perry himself) and JR (co-writer Carlen Altman) play a brother and sister in a very stereotypical-sounding indie comedy plot. They don\u2019t get along very well, but Colin is the only one JR has left; she\u2019s failed in her professional life, neglecting to find a job in broadcasting, and she\u2019s failed in her personal life, breaking up with her pretentious professor boyfriend. So they have a fun sibling road trip where they bond and get over their differences.<\/p>\n Summing up the plot (prior to the \u2018twist\u2019 at the end, at least) tells next to nothing about the movie, though, because it\u2019s so filtered through Alex Ross Perry\u2019s uniquely strange style. I don\u2019t even know how to describe it. It doesn\u2019t have the same weird narrator as \u201cListen Up Philip,\u201d but maybe it\u2019s the beautifully grainy black-and-white cinematography. Maybe it\u2019s the acting styles; Perry and Altman have kind of weird and unnatural line readings, and in any mainstream movie (like \u201cTrainwreck\u201d or something) it would come across as extremely stilted, but it just works<\/em> here. And, like, it\u2019s not genuinely terrible acting; they each have some flat readings, but they\u2019re capable of doing really specific things well, like Altman\u2019s mumbling imitations of Colin that are so perfectly sisterly. And their dynamic is so genuine and recognizable that they\u2019re doing something right. Despite all of that, though, I\u2019m not sure what makes this feel so specifically like an Alex Ross Perry movie (and how I\u2019m able to conclude that after having only seen one of his). All I know is that he makes every other indie auteur seem unimaginative by comparison.<\/p>\n Having a really strong script also helps ameliorate the sketchy acting. I mean, I was laughing almost constantly, and this isn\u2019t the kind of movie that I would expect that from (though I laughed pretty consistently at \u201cListen Up Philip,\u201d too). The jokes often feel improvised, though the movie was 0% improvised; the dynamic between Perry and Altman is just so strong and the scenes have clearly been meticulously rehearsed, so everything feels natural, despite the unnatural delivery.<\/p>\n I expect the polarizing aspect of the movie comes from that undeniably weird ending. It\u2019s no use hiding it any longer: the movie ends with Colin and JR, the biological brother and sister, having sex.<\/p>\n I honestly didn\u2019t know how to feel while watching it. It was uncomfortable, and shocking, of course, especially the way the kiss\/sex itself is shot, with the camera extremely tight on their faces, so that\u2019s all you can see. You\u2019re forced to experience it with them.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s also weirdly natural. There have been so many scenes of strange sexual tension throughout the movie, something that undoubtedly would\u2019ve puzzled me if I went in without knowing where it was all heading. There\u2019s the scene when Colin buttons up JR\u2019s shirt, mimicking \u201czip up my dress\u201d scenes from countless rom-coms. There\u2019s the fact that the motel owner makes them kiss<\/em> to prove that they\u2019re not faking being brother and sister. There\u2019s JR walking in on Colin making out with his old childhood crush and freely interrupting it without apologizing or stepping out to leave them be. There\u2019s the overall dynamic of playful antagonism that fits with the brother-sister relationship but which also feels oddly at home in a budding romantic relationship.<\/p>\n Even aside from the apparent sexual tension that has been simmering throughout the movie, though, there\u2019s the emotional<\/em> weight of it. It feels genuinely cathartic, in a way, because each of them has discovered that the other is the only person who will truly understand them. I doubt that in real life JR would find no one<\/em> who\u2019d actually be sympathetic to her lack of professional and personal success, but still, in the context of the movie, it\u2019s fair that JR would feel like Colin is the only one who\u2019s there for her.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/media1.fdncms.com\/pittsburgh\/imager\/the-color-wheel\/u\/slideshow\/1542162\/film2_colorwheel_28.jpg\")
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