Chet (Dustin Coffey) is an agoraphobic man still living at home with his mother. When his mum moves away, Chet is forced to take on a lodger, a situation which doesn’t gel with his anxieties. Enter Maggie (Linda Burzynski), a former Marine with her own personal demons. She drinks heavily, has been living in a friend’s SUV and clearly suffers through the societal displacement of a returning veteran. The pair form an unlikely friendship as each deal with their own personal prison.
Few films do justice to either agoraphobics or persons leaving military service. For the most part they are paper thin caricatures with little consideration given to the fact that these are avatars for actual human conditions. Fear, Love and Agoraphobia is at its strongest when it focuses on the “odd couple” relationship between its protagonists. The ancillary characters are less carefully considered, with Lori Petty falling off the edge of the narrative in the final act. This is a terrible shame considering how good she is in the role of Francis, Maggie’s bar owning friend. As the only emotionally supportive character outside of the two leads, she is missed, even as Chet and Maggie’s story begins to resolve.
The chemistry between Burzynski and Coffey is easily the most potent element of this movie. Both performers imbue their characters with a dimensionality not afforded to them in the scripted dialogue alone. They are fully formed and wonderfully humanised. You care about their journey. It’s this emotional engagement that raises important discussions with regards to how we perceive anxiety disorders and the physical, mental and emotional health of returning servicemen and women.
However, the plot strand involving Maggie’s incarcerated husband wasn’t afforded the same nuance. While Ed Aristone does well within the role of Rick, his character has several faltering moments, one in particular involves a troubling line about sodomy (you know… because “prison”). It feels like low hanging (rotten) fruit in a film that so carefully traverses the pitfalls of character cliché with its two protagonists.
At its heart this is a film about companionship and empowerment, bolstered by two engaging lead performances. There’s an underlying thread of humour without necessarily courting comedy directly. Both characters have satisfying emotional journeys that acknowledge the ongoing process of healing, and to that end, Fear, Love and Agoraphobia is worth your time and attention.
Fear, Love and Agoraphobia launches on VOD and streaming platforms soon.
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