🧠 Plots Synopsis: The Heat of Sudden Connection
Below Her Mouth is centered around the life of Jasmine, a fashion magazine editor who’s fiancé is a seemingly nice man. Her life comes crashing down when she meets Dallas, a guarded roofer who comes from a troubled past. Initially a chance encounter, a strong relationship begins to blossom between Jasmine and Dallas which threatens to engulf Jasmine completely.
Outwardly, the movie seems to address two emotions worlds colliding within two women and how they undergo a life altering passionate romance, and a self discovery journey. But the focus of the movie is pointing the audience towards the journey rather the destination.
🎭 Performing and Character Integration
Erika Linder portrays the role of Dallas with a spine-chilling elegance, bringing the character to life with her intensive gaze and quiet body language. She shifts the whole movie forward, colliding the viewers into the films drive wither presence that manifests more through body language that filled the empty spaces without dialogue.
Natalie Krill has always managed to go further then the character designs, alongside Linder is where she truly shine. With intuitive warmth, she drives the duality of restraint and emotional delineation into Jasmine. Her slow burn into an emotionally conflicted lover after disentangling herself from the composed façade of the fiancée, alongside Linder’s mighty Transition with Dallas towards the end of the movie and counterbalance. Bordeaux of tenderness and splendid rudeness that leaves the viewer exulted to have finally looker treasured tube.
Both actors render commitment to their relationship, which they developed rapidly. Even in the messiest moments, their intimacy does not feel performative, it feels emotionally charged and immersive.
🎞️ Direction & Cinematic Aesthetic
It is the all-female crew that sets Below Her Mouth apart. It was an intention put forth by director april mullen and screenwriter stephanie fabrizi for her crew to have a more genuine feminine approach to the erotic storytelling. This decision affects how possessive the sex scenes are: intimate, lingering, and with sensuality than titillation taking the foreground.
It is the warming natural light drenched into the cinematography that offers the voyeuristic yet respectful closeness of the film. The film is heavily reliant on the silence and atmosphere in order to convey emotional nuance, which can be seen as a structured form of depth. The urban textures of toronto, including loft apartments, rooftops and dim bars, starkly clash with the softness of the primary relationship and serve as a modern contrast to it.
The film embraces eroticism, unapologetically integrating it with long explicit scenes to serve as anchors for the entire film’s narrative. These, which can be considered emotional exposition for some, may in fact feel excessive and overshadow character development for others.
💡 Themes and Subtext
❤️ Sexual Fluidity and Self-Awareness
At its core, the movie chronicles a sexual awakening and the tumult it can create. Jasmine and Dallas are not simply “coming out as a couple”; rather, it’s a confrontation with her long-held yearnings. The movie does not box her identity; it permits her narrative arc to unfold—albeit with minimal reflection.
🔥 The Conflict Between Desire and Stability
Dallas’s fears of Jasmine’s infidelity intertwine with her fears of being left. Jasmine’s decision lies between her stable engagement and her heated affair. This timeless romantic battle is a tale of security versus authenticity. Dallas grapples with the fears of being abandoned on one end and relinquishing the need to be emotionally vulnerable while being physically intimate on the other.
👀 The Female Gaze and Eroticism
This film intends to capture and rethink how lesbian desire is depicted on camera, which is why it uses only women to crew the film. The female gaze is purportedly afforded the opportunity to represent female desire, but whether or not they fully embraced it is open to interpretation. A part of the audience sees this as a revolutionary film while the others think it’s just too much stylization disguised as shallow representation.
📝 Audience Reception and Critics Review
Critically, Below Her Mouth was received with a mix of praise and harsh criticism. It received support from LGBTQ+ communities for its vigorous sensuality and striking cinematography, while more mainstream critics seemed to labor over the thin plot, lack of character depth, and overuse of intimacy to progress the story.
Viewers loved it for the raw, tender representation of queer love whilst others condemned it for an over-saturation of sex and lack of plot. Because of its bold portrayal of lesbian character’s seeking erotic intimacy and complex emotions, it has developed a form of cult classic status.
🎯 Final Verdict: Should You Watch Below Her Mouth?
Yes, but only if you are in search for an emotionally captivating LGBTQ+ drama that is visually stunning and focuses on physical vulnerability and female intimacy. The film is far from perfect, but makes no attempts at trying to be. The raw and moody essence of the film, along with the core sensibility masked by layered eroticism makes the viewing experience unique.
Watch it if:
✔ You enjoy queer-themed, female-directed erotic films.
✔ You like romantic dramas that explore relationships on a sexual and emotional level.
✔ You want to appreciate a film shaped by the female gaze, particularly regarding the depiction of love scenes.
Skip it if:
❌ You enjoy romance films with dialogue-driven plot development and strong structural narratives.
❌ You find discomfort in the use of graphic sexuality as the primary means of storytelling.
❌ You expect sophisticated treatment of themes like identity, coming out, or social critique.
🔚 Bottom Line
This film, Below her Mouth, is unapologetically feminine, and primarily sensual. It focuses on capturing a fleeting yet powerful moment of two women in love, even if there isn’t a clear resolution waiting at the end of the journey. Its place in queer erotic cinema is underlined by the boldness it embraces.