Chase the Slut

Chase the Slut is one of those low, low budget films that you often never see outside of film festivals; a quirky screenplay with decent acting performances, shot on lower end film equipment that you just know would have been better if someone had just given the poor director some more money to do something with it.

The story revolves around Chase (a both sexy and touching performance from Vanessa Claire Smith), who is known as the town bicycle (everyone’s had a ride), and her relationship with best friend Tibb (Danika Sudik). Tibb is a rich kid and Chase is always skint. She is stuck in a dead end job and all she wants is to leave town but she can’t because she can’t afford to pay the bill to fix her broken-down car. Tibb continually dares Chase to do several ’slutty’ and immature tasks in exchange for money until, eventually, Tibb asks Chase to ‘break-in’ a boy she wants to become her husband in exchange for the money to fix her car. The problem is that this boy, Gabe (Michael Kirby), is a virgin and member of a religious cult called the Disciples of Noah, who keep individual animals as extensions of their soul. Chase will need to break into their inner sanctum and become one of them if she is to earn the trust of Gabe and fulfil the bet. However, as Chase spends more time with the people in the church and less time with Tibb she begins to rediscover the innocent young girl she used be and, at the same time, begins to fall in love with Gabe. The question is then; can a leopard change its spots? And, even if Chase wanted to change, would Tibb allow her to?

The film is funny with most of the humour deriving from the bizarre acts of the Disciples of Noah. Smith delivers a very touching performance in the role of Chase; we really believe that she struggles internally with her reputation and wants to get away from it and, to an extent, we want her to succeed. However, it doesn’t seem plausible that the only thing keeping her from getting away is the fact her car is bust. Why doesn’t she just hop on a bus or a train? Maybe it’s a stateside thing but I guess, over here in the UK, that wouldn’t really hold you back. The quirky cue cards naming each character with a pseudonym is fun and fits the tone very well. Indeed the direction on the most part is very good, only really let down on what would appear to be the budget; a scene in a diner doesn’t work, it looks clunky and the lighting can be quite dark at times throughout but for the most part you can get over this. The performances from the cast are mostly on the nose with only the extras and bit-part characters letting it down, presumably plucked from friends and family to play the roles.  The film seems to have a seismic shift in tone around the two thirds point which some will see as a descent into the twee, however, the ending may surprise those who think they know where it’s all going to go.

If you can accept Chase the Slut for what it is - a low budget film made because the people involved were passionate about it, worked their asses off to get it done and probably had a lot of fun making it - then you’ll be able to see past the majority of flaws.

Chase the Slut was screened as part of the 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival

Last edited: 19th June 2010