A filmmaker (Isidore Bethel) is dumped by his older lover, so he leaves Mexico to come to Chicago to create a documentary about love, sex, and rejection. His script is not yet written, but he starts interviewing people who want to be in the film and might inspire him. Some get naked, he gets naked, one gets off. Some people are seen rehearsing lines, while other scenes are clearly improvised.
But this mix of documentary and fiction is unsettling. Is there a bar for what is real, and what is fiction? Isidore keeps getting calls from his mother who tells him that no one is interested in his sex life.
He only goes for older guys, and he gets off a couple of times with a guy (not credited) with a huge dog. Another tells him his husband is town Friday through Sunday, but he can see him any other time, but when they go to a cabin in the woods, is the confession of regret real, or fiction?
There is a scene at Jackhammer in ‘The Hole’ and plenty of other full nudity. A fair amount of the film is comprised of still images with voice over, which breaks up the tedium. The segment in which all 1787 texts he got form his ex lover is dizzying as they flash by rapidly.
In the end, he returns to Mexico to great sex with his former lover. But I ended up agreeing with mom – who cares about his sex life these days?
I saw ACTS OF LOVE streaming at Chicago International Film Festival, but it is come soon to a streaming service where you live.