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Love Is All You Need? (2016 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Love Is All You Need?' is a 2016 American drama film. It stars Emily Osment, Briana Evigan, Tyler Blackburn, Blake Cooper Griffin, and Jeremy Sisto. Kim Rocco Shields is adapting the film from a screenplay that she co-wrote with David Tillman. On January 27, 2016, the first trailer for the movie was released. Lexi DiBennedetto, star of the 2011 short the film is based on, reprises her role of Ashley. The film was released on iTunes on November 24, 2016.
Plot
"Love is all You Need?" takes place in an alternate reality where homosexuality is the norm and heterosexuality is shunned. Men and women typically only have sex during designated breeding periods for the sake of procreation, but it is the societal expectation to raise one's children with a same-sex partner. Gender roles are also turned on their head, with all the major sports teams being women's and religious leaders being largely female. The film cuts between two main stories throughout its run time. The first is of the forbidden romance between female college-quarterback Jude and classmate Ryan, while the second follows preteen Emily Curtis, who struggles to fit in and begins to develop a crush on her male playmate.
Jude Klein (Briana Evigan) is the star football player at the fictitious Western Indiana University, a highly religious school in an equally religious town. Her girlfriend Kelly (Emily Osment) is a popular sorority girl running for homecoming queen. Both are shown to be regular attendees at their local church and close with its fiercely heterophobic reverend, Rachel Duncan (Elisabeth Rhm).
While at a frat party, Jude meets Ryan Morris (Tyler Blackburn), a sports journalism major who has been recruited to write a story on her for the school magazine. The two quickly form a bond and begin to meet up regularly at a broken down merry-go-round near campus. Ryan is hinted to be a closeted heterosexual. He admits to Jude that he isn't religious and only went to the university because of a scholarship. Furthermore, when she offers to set her up with another male friend, he states that he's "not his type."
Jude begins to grow distant from her girlfriend and is clearly nursing an attraction towards Ryan. One night, after Ryan surprises her by fixing up the merry-go-round, they kiss. Jude confides in Susan Miller (Ana Ortiz), the head of the newly formed Heterosexual Alliance Club at Western Indiana, who encourages her to come out to her friends and family. Jude is adamant about burying her feelings, not wanting to put her football career in jeopardy. That night, however, Ryan asks her to sneak into the school pool with him after closing. They skinny dip and, after confessing their love for each other, have sex against the pool wall. Kelly, who has grown suspicious and secretly followed Jude to the pool, arrives to see them in the act from a window. Furious and heartbroken, she films them with her cell phone.
Jude is later shown at church, and has a conversation with Reverend Rachel in which she confesses that she believes she falling in love with the person that God wants her to be with. The Reverend senses that she is not talking about Kelly, though she is still under the impression the person Jude is referring to is female. She tells her that she needs to break up with Kelly because it's wrong to lead a person on. Jude immediately does so and Kelly, who is clearly planning something, tells her to keep their split quiet for the sake of her homecoming campaign until she finds a way to go public with it. Meanwhile, Ryan is kicked out of the fraternity he is rushing for refusing to play '7 Minutes in Heaven' with another guy, convincing them of his heterosexuality.
Later on, Jude discovers her dorm hall plastered with pictures of her and Ryan having sex. She finds Kelly in her room, who advises her to tell her "little boyfriend" that everybody knows. Left alone, a distraught Jude leaves a voicemail for Ryan, telling him to get somewhere safe. That night, she prays to God asking him for a sign that her love for Ryan is not wrong. She flips through her bible and lands on a verse that seems to set her at ease. The news of her outing reaches the reverend, who plots to use her power to encourage her followers at the university to act violently.
The next night, Jude faces hostility from the crowd at the homecoming game, while her teammates treat her with cold indifference. Ryan watches the game alone from afar, cheering her on. During the last play of the game, the other team decides to play 'Smear the Queer' and ambush Jude, leaving her gravely injured. She is taken on a stretcher to an ambulance. Ryan attempts to go to her, but is cornered by his former fraternity brothers, who have been advised by Reverend Rachel to "snuff out sin wherever they see it." They kidnap him and take him to the merry-go-round, where they tie him up and severely beat him. Meanwhile, Jude awakens in the hospital with Susan at her side.
Emily Curtis' (Kyla Kennedy) story, based on what is referenced, largely takes place after the events at the university. In one of the film's opening scenes, she goes with one of her mothers, Karen (Jenica Bergere), to welcome their new neighbors, Susan Miller and her presumed wife. They quickly learn that she is married to a man. Karen explains to Emily as they leave that her other mother, Vicki (Katherine LaNasa), would not want their family associating with heterosexuals.
After being cut from her junior high's football team, she is comforted by classmate Ian Santilli (Jacob Rodier). They quickly realize they have a lot in common and begin having regular play-dates at her house. Both of them plan to try out for the titular roles in the school play, a rewritten version of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juli'o in which Julio is a woman (Juliet). The drama teacher Dave Thompson (Jermey Sisto), who is married to the male coach of the University's female football team (Leonard Roberts), aims to promote tolerance among his students. Ian's older sister, Paula (Ava Allen), begins to harass Emily alongside her friends. Meanwhile, her mother Vicki is immensely disapproving of her participating in a play that promotes the "perverted hetero lifestyle."
Mr. Thompson is eventually fired after the school receives a flood of complaints about the play. Ian ends his friendship with Emily after realizing she is a heterosexual, not wanting anyone to think he is "like her." Emily is heartbroken, clearly having developed feelings for him. She soon finds herself ambushed by Paula and her friends, who beat her up and write "HETERO" on her forehead.
Emily returns home to both of her mothers playing with her younger brother. They immediately notice her state, and while Karen attempts to comfort her, Vicki orders her to go upstairs and get herself cleaned up. The two women argue, Vicki eventually saying that Emily is at risk of becoming another "Ryan Morris." Emily overhears the name and looks it up on her computer. She finds video taken by one of the participants in his assault, and learns that he is currently in a coma. Traumatized and terrified, Emily locks herself in her bathroom and furiously tries to wipe the "HETERO" label off of her forehead. As her distress grows, she becomes convinced that she will never find happiness or acceptance. She decides to commit suicide by slitting her wrist in a full bathtub.
Meanwhile, the Santillis call the Curtis home to have Paula apologize after learning what she had done. Karen goes upstairs to bring the phone to her daughter. She notices the footage on her laptop, and finds that a sobbing Emily is unresponsive to her pleas to open the door. She grows increasingly panicked and calls for her wife. The women break the door down just as Emily loses consciousness from blood loss. Karen drops the phone to the floor, and the film cuts to the Santillis, still on the line and listening to the chaos. A visibly distraught Ian gets up and runs out of the room, while Paula and their fathers sit in shock. We see Vicki pulling her daughter out of the tub as the screen fades to black, the only noise being the still-running bathtub faucet.
The film cuts to a funeral, and it is at first unclear who it is for. Ian and his family are in attendance, along with the junior high drama teacher and the university's football coach. Susan and her husband sit with Jude. Through flashbacks, we learn that Emily survived her suicide attempt, and that the doctor caring for her was Susan's husband. We see Susan, who previously referenced the high rate of suicide among heterosexual youths, visit her in the hospital with a steadily-recovering Jude.
Emily is shown with her family at the funeral, her arm heavily bandaged. We realize the service is for Ryan, who succumbed to his injuries sometime after Emily attempted to kill herself. Jude gets up to speak, thanking God for giving her Ryan and reciting a quote from 'Romeo and Julio'. Emily approaches Jude after the service, asking why people hate them so much. They decide that heterosexual love is no different from same-sex love, and Emily suggests that "someone should teach them that." As Emily is gently called away by her mothers, we see that they are conversing with the Santillis and the Millers, indicating the two same-sex couples have made their peace and are growing accepting of their heterosexual neighbors.
Jude visits the prison, where Reverend Rachel is now serving a sentence for inciting the hate crime that led to Ryan's death. She reads from the bible page she landed on after asking for a sign from God - '1 Peter 4:8': 'Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.' Jude leaves, but not before asking the reverend a final question: "I think that covers my sin. How about yours?"
The film ends with Jude sitting on the merry go round, repeatedly listening a voicemail Ryan left her during the homecoming game. He says that he called to let her that he is safe and has a great view of her from where he is. The message ends with him telling her that he loves her and will see her soon.
Cast
Production
In October 15, 2014, it was reported that Emily Osment, Briana Evigan and Kyla Kenedy would be featured in the film. In October 21, 2014, Jeremy Sisto, Ana Ortiz, Katherine La Nasa, Jenica Bergere and Leonard Roberts joined the film main cast. In October 28, 2014, Tyler Blackburn joined the film.
The film was shot in Los Angeles in early October 2014.
References
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