Stephen Lance continues showing love for the unexpected in his first foray into a full length feature, My Mistress, dabbing an angsty coming-of-age story with just enough difference to keep things interesting, drawing upon his own teenage experiences to make for a semi-autobiographical exploration of pain, distraction, and healing in a young kid. In this particular case, grief manifests in a slightly perverse, controversial release when a 16 year old boy delves into the realm of S&M via a seductive and mysterious older French woman.
While the tone bounces between blunt and slightly fantastical, the few characters in the film maintain that poignant sense of tragedy which undercuts all the hyperbolic and occasionally hammy dialogue and grounds My Mistress as a piece of art that treats it’s subject matter delicately enough for any reservations about Lance using the entire plot in a gimmicky way to go straight out the window – though there are still parts which seem to be thrown in there with niche in mind.
Charlie (Harrison Gilbertson) is dealt an immense blow in the first five minutes of the film as he returns home from a bike ride to find his father has died by suicide, hanging himself in the garage in a scene that gives Glibertson enough to showcase his raw talent as an actor. Thomas’ general wide-eyed and out-of-depth persona is perfectly captured by Harrion’s rather restrained, contemplative performnace and it’s something which strengthens this film at the times it is at risk of drying up.
Through his grief, Thomas chances upon the aforementioned mysterious French woman, Maggie (Emmanuelle Beart), and half-jokingly attempts to flirt with her in a child’s playground. Development is speedy given that this film isn’t terribly long, and the pacing often takes away from the overall great quality of the film’s story. Thomas, in stalking Maggie back to her large house, discovers a land of PVC and leather whips as he sees Maggie whipping one of her clients in a fully decked out S&M room. It doesn’t take long for Maggie, in no uncertain terms, to describe S&M as her job and her service to men who all seem to have some sort of issue they haven’t dealt with properly.
And that’s what this movie is really about. The S&M stuff, as authentic and intriguing as it is, only serves as a connection and metaphor between damaged souls. Thomas, as a 16 year old boy, blames his mother (Rachael Black) for his father’s suicide, implicating an affair; he doesn’t at all take kindly to this, rejecting his parent at a crucial and tragic stage in his life, while seeking out a female figure which is more in line with what he currently wants. Thomas’ rather creepy attempts at becoming Maggie’s one and only lover is one of the film’s main plots but it also is a facet dented by the general sense of desperation he pressures Maggie with.
Maggie is given her own depth after child custody woes and her own sympathetic backstory are revealed, but we remain very much in the perspective of Thomas. So much so that Maggie is often treated as an object, whereby she is harassed into returning the love of this impressionable 16 year old because of how much he wants to be a part of her world.
While BDSM roleplay is subtle in the film, it’s all thrown at us in one particular – largely inconsequential – scene in which Thomas climbs into a coffin and watches Maggie satisfy a client, again speaking to the relatively short length of the film by rushing through the S&M aspect that serves as My Mistress’ main point of difference.
Dysfunction in the relationship between Thomas and his mother is only explored in a few scenes, but it’s enough to fuel our understanding of his intense attraction towards Maggie and her initially peculiar habits. Beart, as Maggie, has a natural charm that lends itself perfectly to the role; mixing equal parts sexy in with vulnerable to fit with the art-house tone but, as with Gilbertson, the majority of scenes are filled with such bland and ridiculous dialogue that many scenes with power behind them lose spark almost instantaneously when either of these characters begins to talk.
Lance has obviously taken a lot of time to ensure the film is as authentic in it’s look as it can be; with sets and costumes playing in with the atmosphere very well. However, his portrayal of S&M doesn’t go beyond implying that it’s for people who are trying to fill a void in their lives. We don’t really go into why Maggie began as a dominatrix, although we should have been able to explore that a bit more; we simply get an issue with her son to explain why she finds a close relationship with Thomas a bit hard to resist.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Running Time: 104 minutes
My Mistress is currently screening in Australian cinemas through Transmission Films
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