At the centre of MATER's plot is the rape of a man by a lesbian couple wanting a baby desperately. How the filmmaker mixes lesbian family plans and male (heterosexual) rape is dangerously simplistic. Both topics are important to talk about, if handled seriously and/or compassionately, but director and writer Pablo D'Alo Abba doesn't care for real emotions - or the effects of his representation - at all. Instead he fills the space between conceptual plot points with boring shallowness, wasting a lot of potential and eventually aiming for a corny happy ending.
Why did Abba choose a lesbian and not a heterosexual couple (the man could have been infertile) for his story? Maybe he had good reasons, but probably not. The consequence of Abba's choice is that (once again) lesbians are being portrayed as psychologically damaged (egotistically committing rape without any sympathy or remorse during or after). Neither does Abba comprehend the emotional impact of rape, so he sends his male protagonist (a ne'er-do-well) on a quest of seeking co-parenthood with his rapists to escape his dominant mother. Really?
In my humble opinion as a queer festival director, this film is doing a huge disservice to the discussion of any of its topics.
