"Bloomington" (USA 2010, 83 minutes), being given its East Coast premiere at QFest, Philadelphia's LGBT film festival, is a movie that speaks to the heart, and other parts, of anyone who has ever had a crush that they know they shouldn't have-and has gotten to act on that crush.
Fernanda Cardoso has made a film that is all-over tingly in its sexy heat. Hot-hot-hot professor Catherine Stark (Alison McAtee) is a professor with a reputation for sleeping with her students-her female students-and after she sleeps with them...they disappear. Rather than putting off child star-cum-college student Jackie Kirk (Sarah Stouffer), she is intrigued. Predictably, she's drawn to the charismatic Stark like a moth to a flame and the flame between the two is white hot.
Falling in love is not enough sometimes, and when Jackie gets the nod for a feature film, Catherine and Jackie spiral into a hurt loop that takes as much passion to break free of as it did to create their relationship. The heart of the matter, as always in human relationships, is the lack of communication.
Every experience we have changes us, creates who we are, and puts us on the path to what's next. College is part of that experience. Love is part of that experience. Loss is part of the experience. And what comes next is a different path entirely.
See "Bloomington" at QFest on July 17 at 7:15 p.m. at the Ritz East, 125 South Second Street, in Theater Two, or 18 at 2:30 at the Ritz at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead Street. QFest runs through July 19. For further information, visit http://www.qfest.com.