Socket

Socket is one of the few original sci-fi ideas lately. Director Sean Abley tapped in real nice with the regulars on his brave new outing. With his inspirations and influences in tow, he sets out to create a gay sci-fi film actually worth mentioning.

Brilliant Surgeon Bill Matthews gets struck by lightning and ends up his hospital, currently recovering. His young intern nurse hands him a card for "people like us". When he is at home, he is attracted to static from the TV, goes on an energy high, cleaning his entire home. With this event, he decides to check the meeting out, which leads to a group of people who love absorbing voltage to go club-hopping and making out with each other.

The basic storyline has recurring elements of the films about drug addiction and the seedy side of ecstasy, which has it's fun times, but is too overdone. Socket doesn't add any new emotions to the character's addiction. Many influences can be traced so deeply, that the film loses many of it's originality points. The secret cult theme can be lead to Cronenberg's Crash and even the ridiculous surgery (body horror themes) can be lead back to Cronenberg as well. I even sense a slight ode to Electric Dragon 80,000v.

Socket is a marvel of a gay film for the simple fact that it doesn't revel in the fact that it is a gay film. Most gay/lesbian films focus less on the story and more on the accept of them in our society, as sort of a "look at me" scream. You barely notice that the film is gay-themed and serves as a testament that there is a market in gay films.

Aside from being a breath of fresh air, Socket is a film that can hold it's own throughout the onslaught of sci-fi films to come. With recurring themes of body horror, dark perversions, and looking for the ultimate high, Socket is a science fiction film to reckon with.

-Maq