Sadly Over-hyped

Admirable film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Note: I streamed this film from Netflix on a 4K TV. Good image quality and good movie."Concussion" takes place within the mind of an early 40s housewife, Abby, who is unhappy in her marriage. She and her wife are more like roommates with children than a married couple. One afternoon while renovating an apartment with a handyman, Abby finishes her work and hires a female escort to who compliments her on her skills in the bedroom. This leads to a newfound hobby, or maybe, a passing fancy for Abby.Abby is a depressed character. It's clear she isn't that interested in her marriage or even her children. The film threads the line very carefully to avoid any melodrama or cheese presented by this premise. Abby's micro affairs don't seem to offer her any more peace than that of sexual satiety. The numerous sex scenes do not titillate the viewer. Many of the scenes show only a portion of the coitus or the beginning/end. The rest is left to our imagination, which it should be. We don't feel anything from these scenes but what actor Robin Weigert wants us to see: melancholy.Concussion is a study in control by Robin Weigert and director Stacie Passon. Abby eventually meets a fellow mom, Sam, from her children's elementary school as a client. The two of them have obvious physical chemistry and share a sense of friendship. We think and even hope that Abby will finally have some type of passion in her life. And she doesn't. Abby can't understand why Sam would want to pay for an escort when she has a husband who appears totally into her. Sam says she's just bored. Aren't we all.The film succeeds because it's free from any sort of an agenda. The same-sex story has little relevance to the plot. What is missing, if anything, is an idea of how Abby came to be in this phase of her life. Has she always been this way? I was engrossed enough in the physical storytelling that I wanted to know more.

I kept waiting.And waiting.Will Smith never showed up in a scene.I was just so sure the concussion that happened at the beginning of the movie was going to emerge later as some subarachnoid hemorrhage, and Will Smith would step in and explain how concussions can be silent sleepers.There is only one silent sleeper though in this movie, and it's not the person that is always worried about being selfish but on the other hand is only interested in self gratification, likely just mandating some prostitute 'witness' it with her so it actually seems real.I'd give this movie proper care but unfortunately I used up my role of 1250 (get the extra 250, it lasts a few days longer)."Hey honey, instead of dinner and a movie tonight, how about you eat alone, I lie to you eat out and order a prostitute - hold the pepperoni and cheese - I'll just take it with red sauce.Ugh - I can't WAIT until Japan's robot industry makes it around that final corner, because movies like this won't have to exist.After all- if it's just a helping hand you need, I'm sure Japan could just build 'The Arm' and at $14,995.00 it's probably a pretty good arm- extra 6th finger upgrade is only $3995.00 ?I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 - reasons withheld.

After watching this movie, I am feeling really unsatisfied. OK, so the movie was good. The acting excellent and the script was interesting and while some may think the pacing was slow, I thought it was well-done. A lesbian housewife is bored *SPOILER ALERT* because her busy wife seems to have forgotten sex exists. So, bored lesbian housewife seeks a little satisfaction with a prostitute. Then, gets hip to turning tricks herself. She's "breathing" finally (as the script makes very clear). She's finding herself. And after this exploration is complete the whole ending is a complete and utter let down. There's the reveal, but the expected explosion (pun actually intended) or confrontation just never comes (again, pun intended). There's no resolution - just that life goes on. So, it was interesting, entertaining and saying something somewhat meaningful up until the very end of the flick when the story just fizzles.

This continues with a recent trend in cinema in dealing with a rather contemporary phenomenon that of same sex couples and the challenges they face. The heroine in this story is trapped by her partner who is driven, successful provides a nice home for both to live but totally neglects her as well as her needs. Everything is about the alpha female spouse. But there's two in a marriage right?As part of an effort of self exploration as well as increasing unfulfilled sexual needs she rents an apartment down town and makes it something of a lesbian brothel which causes something of a transformation in her in the sense that from feeling inadequate and incomplete, suddenly she is filled with capacity to give pleasure to those who come her way.Such as is the nature of experiments like this, as the story progresses it leads to one big question: how long can/will she carry on leading a double life?Captivating and poignant, it is another gem of indie cinema.