I must confess that I'm quite on the fence regarding neophyte director Anja Marqurdt's debut film, "She's Lost Control." I suspect in part she was aiming for some kind of suspense thriller but ends up more with a psychological portrait of a lonely New York Master's Degree candidate in psychology who also happens to work as a sexual surrogate. The protagonist is Ronah (Brooke Bloom) who is supervised by a licensed therapist, Dr. Cassidy. Ronah and Cassidy appear to be quite ethical in dealings with patients but there's something a little cold and controlling about both of them.
Marqurdt attempts to flesh out Ronah by chronicling her life outside her work as a sexual surrogate. It appears that Ronah is not very helpful with her brother who is dealing with their senile mother upstate. She also has been taking hormone injections so she can freeze her eggs, hoping that one day she can have children. What's more a leak in her bathroom leads to trouble from a downstairs neighbor, who eventually names her as a party in a lawsuit. The dour Ronah also maintains a stiff upper lip even as she is receiving mysterious calls from a possible stalker.
Ronah is not quite a sad sack and the controlling nature of her personality is perhaps a cautionary tale for any "professional" who takes their job a little too seriously. Ronah makes it clear that she won't give up on her introverted patient, Johnny, who appears to be a difficult nut to crack. Johnny, an anesthesiologist assistant, refuses to cooperate for the most part in the beginning of the therapy sessions. Meanwhile, Ronah's relationships with a few other patients, appear to be going normally.
We do get an idea that something's not exactly cool with Johnny but it's not until the end when he becomes violent. The problem is that Ronah's patient maneuvers to attempt to get Johnny to open up, drag on and the pacing of the film slows down considerably. There just aren't enough twists and turns in the plot (except for Johnny's meltdown), that will keep an audience interested for an entire movie.
What exactly is Ms. Marqurdt trying to say about Ronah at the end of her journey? Are we supposed to have sympathy for her because she's the victim of a sexual assault? Was it partially her fault because she ignored the signs that something malevolent was about to befall her? Was her "controlling" nature the reason why she ended up as such a lonely character? The ambiguous ending feels unsatisfying and perhaps next time this newbie director will be more explicit in tidying up her denouement.
Marqurdt attempts to flesh out Ronah by chronicling her life outside her work as a sexual surrogate. It appears that Ronah is not very helpful with her brother who is dealing with their senile mother upstate. She also has been taking hormone injections so she can freeze her eggs, hoping that one day she can have children. What's more a leak in her bathroom leads to trouble from a downstairs neighbor, who eventually names her as a party in a lawsuit. The dour Ronah also maintains a stiff upper lip even as she is receiving mysterious calls from a possible stalker.
Ronah is not quite a sad sack and the controlling nature of her personality is perhaps a cautionary tale for any "professional" who takes their job a little too seriously. Ronah makes it clear that she won't give up on her introverted patient, Johnny, who appears to be a difficult nut to crack. Johnny, an anesthesiologist assistant, refuses to cooperate for the most part in the beginning of the therapy sessions. Meanwhile, Ronah's relationships with a few other patients, appear to be going normally.
We do get an idea that something's not exactly cool with Johnny but it's not until the end when he becomes violent. The problem is that Ronah's patient maneuvers to attempt to get Johnny to open up, drag on and the pacing of the film slows down considerably. There just aren't enough twists and turns in the plot (except for Johnny's meltdown), that will keep an audience interested for an entire movie.
What exactly is Ms. Marqurdt trying to say about Ronah at the end of her journey? Are we supposed to have sympathy for her because she's the victim of a sexual assault? Was it partially her fault because she ignored the signs that something malevolent was about to befall her? Was her "controlling" nature the reason why she ended up as such a lonely character? The ambiguous ending feels unsatisfying and perhaps next time this newbie director will be more explicit in tidying up her denouement.
