Feed (2006)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Michael Carter	Alex O'Loughlin
Philip Jackson	Patrick Thompson
Deidre	Gabby Millgate	½
Richard	Jack Thompson
Abbey	Rose Ashton

Review

Feed is a revolting and ugly film with a very charismatic bad guy and a very annoying, senseless "hero". This atypical, clever approach makes the film intriguing, and it also makes you a bit uncomfortable in your chair. Alex O'Louglin, the actor, might just be something of a catch. He certainly knows how to have fun with his highly... well, flamboyant character, but more surprisingly, his performance also isn't without depth. In any case, he is a magnetic presence that keeps the film slightly interesting even as the formulaic, generic ridicule becomes predominant, and we're just waiting for someone to put someone out of their misery.

The initial premise, however, is good and gives the film a lot of opportunities. In the (soon to be overexposed) trend of depicting paraphilias and sexual deviations on film, we're this time taken to the world of feeders and gainers. In this world, the feeder (here a man) will be sexually aroused and satisfy a mental need when excessively feeding, and thus controlling, the gainer. The paraphilia in itself raises a string of interesting moral and behavioural questions, some of which are discussed satisfactorily here, but many of which are just grazed upon during the film's way to its goal: creating a horribly formulaic and characterologically flat one-on-one between the two aforementioned protagonists. The only interesting aspect to this is the filmmakers' ability to convey the ambivalence in the set of moral principles that the two leads represent. Unfortunately, the logic of the plot, quality of the dialogue and authenticity of the characters is nowhere near a level that would make Feed into something valuable.