Film Festival Review: Kat Rohrer Makes Us Smile with Lesbian Rom-Com What a Feeling
Kat Rohrer ‘s What a Feeling Makes Us Smile with Lesbian Rom-Com — Film Festival Review
I’m going to start with this: As an open bisexual, I do not judge lesbian films with the same eye as other films. I have spent decades hungry for content.
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For example, I’m not big on hetero rom-com. There are many good ones, and I met my quota the last time Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks stood in front of the same camera. Maybe a little before that. My favorite romcom with a man and a woman made in the last decade? No idea. I haven’t watched a single one. I know the formula. Wait. If you put Gillian Anderson and Tom Hiddleston in one, I’ll watch it. But you can also put them in a 90-minute film where they repeat the alphabet, and I’ll be equally entertained, aroused and inspired to fall In love.
But I will tell you now, if you put a solidly crafted lesbian rom-com in front of me, I will savor every second. Formulas be damned. In fact, I want the formula. I want a meet cute. I want a test of chemistry that includes an 80s song. I want a big lie. I want truth to prevail. I want all the tropes. I want the quirky but wise best friend—extra points for their own character arc.
What a Feeling is for…
Well, last night, I got it. What Go Fish was for lesbian romantic cinema in the 90s, What a Feeling is for Gen X women who need popcorn and hope for romance in 2024. I’m also adding Proschat Madani to my list of people who can read the alphabet and I’ll swoon.
What a Feeling has all the tropes threaded together with the 80’s Flashdance song of the same name. Proschat Madani is Fa, a successful carpenter who charms the pants off many a clientele. Caroline Peters is Marie Theres, a workaholic doctor who loves her work but has little time or attention for her husband and daughter. You’ve watched the rom-coms, so you know where this goes. It starts as an altercation in an intersection, gets complicated at a lesbian bar, and ends happily ever after.
And that is the best part. I had a blast with these characters and this film because Kat Rohrer allowed me to relax into the story like a warm bubble bath. I yelled at Fa to “just dance with her” so many times. And I gave the best friend pep talk to Marie Theres too many times to count.
I am shocked this is Rohrer’s first feature. It was seamless in execution.
The story tied up every loose end and gave me side characters with depth and charm beyond the funny one line. The dance between our leads never felt forced or slow. Their actions were realistic, and their relationship evolved in a way that kept me intrigued but never rushed.
I smiled a lot.
And that’s the real gauge of a romantic comedy.
What a Feeling has enjoyed a successful festival run at the likes of Out on Film in Atlanta, Cinema Diverse in Palm Springs, and Reeling in Chicago and is heading to New Fest in NY this month.
Kat Rohrer ‘s What a Feeling Makes Us Smile with Lesbian Rom-Com — Film Festival Review