"Seeking Dolly Parton" is the story of a lesbian couple — "Charlie" (Kacey Barnfield) and "Cerina" (Anya Monzikova) — who yearn to have a baby together. For whatever reasons, they do not want to venture down the adoption or anonymous sperm donor route, opting instead for asking "Jon" (Raffaello Degruttola), a close gay friend of theirs, to be the father of their baby. When this plan does not work out, they turn their attentions to Cerina's ex-boyfriend, "Josh" (Michael Worth). Not sure how he feels about this proposal — and honestly, not all that sure what feelings he still has for Cerina — Josh moves in with them, making for an awkward and unlikely trio of would-be parents. It is at this point that you could be forgiven if you think the film is going to take the tried-and-true journey down the path of is-she-or-isn't-she or which-one-does-she-truly-love.
But it doesn't.
Written and directed by Worth, the film is both an emotional and intellectual examination of people unable to move past an event or an idea or even a person. Nearly every character in the film finds themselves "stuck" in some part of their life. Charlie is haunted by images of a place she may have visited with her father, who died when she was very young, and cannot move on with her art because of it. Josh cannot get over the hurt of breaking up with Cerina, leaving his life in a kind of day-to-day mundane existence. Even Jon cannot come to grips with publicly acknowledging that he is gay which makes the likelihood of his finding his own chance at love slimmer and slimmer.
The natural ebb and flow of the conversations have a very John Cassavetes feel to them, and I cannot close without pointing out Chia-Yu Chen's beautiful cinematography. I have said before that Worth's films have an inherent sweetness to them. A love of life and of people. And that is definitely here in "Seeking Dolly Parton."
But it doesn't.
Written and directed by Worth, the film is both an emotional and intellectual examination of people unable to move past an event or an idea or even a person. Nearly every character in the film finds themselves "stuck" in some part of their life. Charlie is haunted by images of a place she may have visited with her father, who died when she was very young, and cannot move on with her art because of it. Josh cannot get over the hurt of breaking up with Cerina, leaving his life in a kind of day-to-day mundane existence. Even Jon cannot come to grips with publicly acknowledging that he is gay which makes the likelihood of his finding his own chance at love slimmer and slimmer.
The natural ebb and flow of the conversations have a very John Cassavetes feel to them, and I cannot close without pointing out Chia-Yu Chen's beautiful cinematography. I have said before that Worth's films have an inherent sweetness to them. A love of life and of people. And that is definitely here in "Seeking Dolly Parton."