Written and directed by Dale Allan Johnson, Flesh is Heir to mixes science-fiction with drama to create a strange murder mystery.
The opening sequence succeeds in creating a sense of excitement for what is to follow – the grungy music and scenes of erotic dancing is a mesmerising introduction. Then we are introduced to Charlie; a policewoman following in the footsteps of her father. Heather Michelle plays the role of the badass cop well, however the character itself if a somewhat predictable one from a movie that labels itself as ‘delving into the female psyche’. The tension between Charlie and her new Captain – Captain Walker (Adam Braunstein) – is also sadly predictable and makes the switch from professional to sexual with no actual character development.
The uniqueness of the writing comes from the plotline; physicist Cece has returned from the large Hardon collider with visions of murder. She wants to solve these murders but no one will believe her visions are real, including her boyfriend who gets quite fed up with her very quickly. And understandably so. Cece’s character is almost insufferable – an issue that seems to lie within the writing rather than the performance of Louisa de Butts. Albeit unintentionally, Johnson has reinforced the stereotype of the overly-emotional woman in Cece and over compensated for this with the character of Charlie. Furthermore, the storyline of visions emerging from Cece’s activity at CERN continues to mythologise and degrade women in STEM roles.
Johnson seems to be implying that no one is paying attention to Cece’s visions because she is a woman, when really they aren’t paying attention to her because she comes across as deranged and the idea of ‘I had a vision’ standing up as evidence in court is laughable. Obviously the film world gives us creative licence to do anything, but I just feel the visions could have been incorporated in a different and more effective way – one that doesn’t paint female scientists as ridiculous, annoying and over-emotional. The level of feminism in the film is perhaps best summed up by Cece’s line; ‘I have a vagina’ as this is more or less the extent to which Johnson develops his two female leads. And why Cece is naked in this scene is another question. If the film was meant to reclaim female sexuality, the mark has been missed by some way as Flesh is Heir To is dominated by the male gaze and hyper-sexualisation. The editing of the film is also strange, often cutting to black and white for no clear reason. The quality of the editing and sound design is questionable – these things are a foundation to the film and need to be solid.
A redeeming force in the film is actor Brandon J. Shaw as the murder suspect, Jorden. The twist of Jorden having a twin brother is exciting and it would have been nice to give this idea more space to develop as it felt a bit rushed. Shaw and Michelle are the two standout highlights of the film.
Watch the trailer below