mxsuba26
Dark quirky and compelling film. Without giving too much away, a very dark and foul family secret is unearthed by a professor's twenty-something son after a brief encounter with a young woman who claims to be his cousin. Plot twists, surprises, dark humor and a great dinner scene make for a good film. Don't look into the abyss. You won't like what is looking back at you.
jtncsmistad
"Kissin' Cousins" this is not. "The Automatic Hate" takes the almost cutesy incestual premise of the 1960's Elvis musical vehicle and twists it into full force perversion. As off-kilter as it is to consider, what happens between these two long-lost relatives is, given the premise here, anyway, not as unsettling as you may well imagine.Still, this film ends with a lingering, and haunting, uncertainty. Is this taboo relationship merely an impassioned moment in time? Or is it destined to never entirely be left in the past?
Larry Silverstein
I'm sorry to say I found this indie to be rather abysmal. To be honest, I found myself laughing and shaking my head in disbelief at some of the stilted dialogue and contrived plot elements as they unfolded.Joseph Cross stars here as Davis, who is approached by a young woman (Adelaide Clemens) who tells him she's his cousin Alexis and that her father (Ricky Jay) is Davis' uncle. Never knowing that he had any of these relatives, Davis begins to investigate the truth about all of this and starts to uncover a most bitter family feud, decades old, whereby his father (Richard Schiff) and his uncle have despised each other and won't even acknowledge the other's existence.As Davis tries to unravel this mystery, be prepared for more than one incest subplot, often cringe inducing dialogue, and an ending that I found really ridiculous.All in all, although I see other reviewers found merit with the movie, I just couldn't find much to like here at all.
vegicat
If you can't handle messy, real, life, this movie probably isn't for you. This movie is two things-- it's a mystery and a drama. The mystery is about why two brothers/fathers become estranged, as explored through cousins who don't meet until they are adults. While the movie doesn't go into much detail about the estrangement, it is a very thoughtful exploration of the confusing phenomenon called Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA), and it is a real thing, as anyone who has been adopted or has met family members they didn't grow up with can testify. That's the focus of the drama.What it is not, as some have implied, is a story about creepy incest. It's not lurid, and not pandering in the slightest. It's not about some "slutty" cousin and some dude who is willing to throw away his education, girlfriend or profession for some hot sex. If you go into the movie thinking or expecting that, you will be disappointed. I have no idea why another reviewer is ranting about this being a "gay" story about how being gay is hereditary. It has nothing at all to do with gay people. I think they didn't watch the movie carefully, because there was nobody gay in it at all. There are two events that happen -- the conflict of the brothers/fathers mystery estrangement, and then there's the conflict that happens when the cousins meet. There is nothing at all insinuating that anything is "hereditary". I thought the ending was perfect. The cousin doesn't want to lose his girlfriend, but at the same time, he knows that even though she has said they can't get back together if he doesn't tell the truth, he knows that she, like probably 95% of the people who watch the movie, will absolutely not understand, accept or forgive him... so he lies. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. If you are curious about what is really going on in the story, Google Genetic Sexual Attraction.
AD
