ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

adrijdin I like to watch Spanish language movies in order to brush up on my Spanish, especially for an upcoming vacation in Mexico :P This title seemed a little too depressing but something made me decide to go ahead and put it on anyway - I'm so glad that I did. Rather than down in the dumps upon watching this movie, I felt I'd come to terms with some of the grim realities of life as a single adult, and it actually gave me some hope.If you are not comfortable with graphic sex scenes, I would not suggest this film, although it would seem that's obvious even from the tagline description. The sex is essential to the storyline, and the relationship between the characters, and it might open up peoples' eyes to realize that it's very realistic. Don't be scared of weird sex. It's out there, and people want it, people do it. It's a fact of life in this human body.Although the storyline is simple and sad, upon reflection, I actually think it's brilliant. It's a story of overcoming grief, even coming of age, that really needed to be told. And the acting from lead Monica del Carmen, how she dealt with the vulnerability and complexity of the character, was a step above what you'll usually see. I would recommend the film in appreciating of her acting alone. There are some reviews on here that says this movie is misogynistic, or no better than a porn. What a load of rubbish! The sex in this movie is an illustration of a consensual sexual dynamic and pattern that exists between men and women that is very natural. It may or may not reflect an ideal state of emotional health, but it's not abuse, and becoming more comfortable with and conscious of human sexuality is the key to opening up peoples' minds so that we can actually overcome misogynistic tendencies in society. It's also worth noting that it's still rare to see a powerful lead female on screen, in control of her sexuality, and capable of some fairly complex manipulation.If you're a fan of character studies, art-house type stuff, and movies that are actually GOOD, do watch this one!

azfad A raw, uncompromising portrait of a woman journalist, brilliantly played by Monica Del Carmen, who is riven by isolation, financial insecurity and a sexually abusive past. The direction by Rowe is masterful and if you like the work of Haneke and Von Trier, you may well find a lot to appreciate here. The rhythm of the piece is pitch- perfect and whereas the previously mentioned directors have a taste for the hysterical, the treatment here is more humane somehow and less obviously exploitative of the viewer's emotions. I also liked the formal camera-work, lack of close-ups and off-camera sounds and dialogue that created a heightened, tense atmosphere.All in all, a fine debut film by a director to watch in the future.

dogwater-1 A bleak study of loneliness set in a claustrophobic apartment in Mexico City featuring a fearless performance, or a masochistic one, take your pick, by Monica Del Carmen as Laura. Laura spends most of her days and nights in her joyless apartment spying on her neighbors and inventing relationships with them in her mind. She occasionally goes out to clubs and brings home men for unrewarding sex. They invariably leave her lonelier than before. She meets Arturo (Armando Hernandez) who brings a sado-masochistic satisfaction to her sexual life. Meanwhile she ominously checks off the dates of her calendar toward the end of the month marked in red. This film is as explicit as it needs to be and Laura's world is not easy to view. Director Michael Rowe has achieved the film he sat out to make, I'm sure, and the totality of the realism can be uncomfortable as it should be. By setting the movie entirely in the small apartment and by the astonishingly natural performance of Ms. Del Carmen, you feel, smell, and know this movie like it was a fever dream. You want to give Laura a big hug at the end. Not for the squeamish or near squeamish.

sam-519 Judging by the reviews here, there seems to be a lot of animosity, a lot of grief and lot of misunderstanding about this film. Leap Year, is by it's very nature, exactly that. It's a film about a desperately sad and lonely woman who, through her own sex drive, ends up making a massive jump forward in her life. Emotionally and temporally. It is a film for everyone who has felt the extremities of sexual pleasure and pain, the extremities of desperation, the extremities of loneliness and the extremities of depression.Laura is a lonely woman with a job as a writer. She spends her time alone doing journalism and fantasising about personal relationships. Compulsively lying to her family to show herself as more interesting than she thinks she is. Needing positive emotional intensity. She lives emotionally vicariously off the young couple opposite her flat - she masturbates while watching them doing everyday tasks, feeding off the closeness they have but that she has never experienced. Closeness and understanding turn her on, they fuel her. She goes out most evenings and pulls random men back to her flat, sleeping with them but gaining nothing. They all leave in the morning with barely a word. She has no idea how to snare men any other way than through sex. To her, sex is the portal to emotional fulfillment. Here is her main failing.She ends up meeting Arturo who has quite advanced sexual tastes. He likes spanking, he likes asphyxiation, he likes knife play and urolagnia. Because she is desperate to be close to him and because he shows a constant interest in her, she goes along with everything. And here is an important point. She does not go along with him because she is forced to but because she finds she enjoys it. There is no point in the film where she is forced to do anything beyond her will. Every time he buzzes her flat she knows what's coming. She runs to the window, throws the keys out, undresses and waits. The intensity, the vibe between them, the emotional extremity turns her on so much and gives her the emotional closeness she always fantasised about that she wants more. When Arturo urinates on her, and asks her afterwards what it was like, she smiles and says "it was warm". It felt good to her because it was personal, because it was private, taboo, shunned by many, but something explicit to them (a point clearly understood by the BBFC who did not cut this scene even though they are normally outspoken again urinating on women in pornography).This brings me to the next point - this is not porn. Laura is a plain girl. She is not a porn actress or model. She is plump, she is normal, she is a lonely girl going through depressive motions desperately looking for understanding. This film is not meant to titillate, which is the point of pornography. It is not meant for the viewer. It is about Laura. It is her film. It is a snapshot of her existence. Nothing is glossy or embellished. The flat, her, her sex life, her job. Everything is matte, plain and wanting.The film's pièce de résistance is the final scene. Laura has been marking days off her calendar to her decided day of suicide, 29th February, the same day her father died. Arturo asks her "what kind of person dies on February 29th?" to which she answers "those that have to". She is convinced she cannot - will not - live beyond this day. She marks it in a big red block on her calendar. A stop, an end point, unseeable beyond. She agrees with Arturo on the ultimate close sexual high - she will be killed by him during sex that night when she outlines to him in a highly erotic scene exactly what she wants him to do to her while she masturbates him. When the evening comes and her brother invades her space because he has broken up with his boyfriend, she wakes up the next day alive and in the same white dress as the night before. She looks at the calendar, realising February has ended, and turns over to March. A new month. A month she thought she'd never see. Each day blank and for her to fill with what she chooses. She is in control once again - maybe more than ever.If you've ever been depressed, felt extreme loneliness or understand the highs and lows of sexual experimentation and intensity, this is a film for you. It ticks so many boxes so beautifully..... but for everyone else it will likely just seem exploitative. It is far more than that indeed: a very beautiful, dark and emotive piece of film-making.