A young woman finds herself in love with two men at the same time, sparking an open polyamorous relationship.
The 90s weren’t exactly the best time for LGBTQ movies. More often than not, mentions of any LGBTQ character were diluted down to an exploited lesbian or bisexual female, typically used for a bit of shock value or male gaze enjoyment. Worse yet, homophobic humor was all the rage in those days, making jokes at the expense of the entire LGBTQ community and harming their representation in film even more. That’s why the fact that Splendor exists at all is a miracle, and the fact that it’s actually pretty fun and enjoyable without being gross and derogatory is even more of one.
Helmed by Gregg Araki, who wrote, directed and produced Splendor, and who self identifies as queer, kinda, sorta, maybe, but definitely not straight, the film is a fun time that never descends into feeling too goofy or self absorbed, and manages to depict a trouple relationship and polyamory as something real instead of something to be laughed at and made fun of. While, yes, some of the humor and logic feels a bit dated (I mean, it’s from the 90s, what do you expect?), it can be a little bit tonally awkward from time to time, and the lead female character can occasionally feel a bit flat by comparison to her male counterparts, you can tell that the vision behind the project was one of acceptance and an attempt at representation in the grand scheme of cinema. It even goes against type by featuring a woman with two men instead of the opposite that’s typically prevalent.
All three actors are on point, too. They may not be the biggest names in the world, which is shameful, considering they’re all fantastic actors, but they all embody their characters perfectly and the sexual tension and chemistry between all of them is very palpable and believable. Kathleen Robertson is wonderful as Veronica, a noteworthy beauty who proves to be the perfect central vehicle for the tale, and her sensitivity to the performance as a polyamorous woman is perfectly compounded by the polar opposite ends of the spectrum in Jonathan Schaech’s Abel and Matt Keeslar’s Zed. Even their names are at the ends of the alphabet from each other, a subtle wordplay that wasn’t lost on me.
My only complaint, which isn’t so much a complaint as it is a sign of the times, is how aged the film looks. It’s obvious it wasn’t a high powered Hollywood production, and as a result, the film hasn’t aged well in appearance. It still holds up, though. And any shortcomings are made up for by a killer soundtrack featuring some real bangers by Fatboy Slim, Lush, Blur, and many other 90s bands that’ll have you reminiscing for yesteryear. Not to mention the bright color palette feels like a warm sunshine hug.
Splendor is exactly what the title implies; splendid. It’s fun, cutesy and embodies the perfect amount of 90s romcom cheese without making the LGBTQ community the butt of the joke. Instead, it paints an endearing picture of polyamory and open relationships without judgement or bias, and you get to have a whole lot of fun in the meantime.