Her Lips Are Mine: Written Review

Her Lips Are Mine

Written Review

Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions.

Today I’ll be reviewing the 2019 animated horror-short Her Lips Are Mine, written, directed and produced by MyIndie featured artist, talented U.S. independent filmmaker, Ken Cohen. Thank you Ken, for sharing your film with us.

Sandy, a young woman voiced by Michele Nichols, falls victim at the hands of a notorious serial mutilator, who is well known for abducting women solely to remove body parts, mainly facial parts, and then simply release them to go back to their lives and deal with their new reality.

The heinous attacker has a different plan for Sandy, as after having her nose and lips gruesomely removed from her face and then discarded, the attacker gives Sandy a new nose and set of lips, which were kept from previous victims. After which, she manages to escape.

THAT is where it gets REALLY weird. As some time passes, Sandy tries to work through her mental and physical trauma through a support-group, comprised of other past victims of the mutilator, specifically the women who’s facial parts she unwillingly received.

This film doesn’t really have spoilers, but more of a unique viewing experience, so I won’t go into further details, so as not to take away from it.

After having viewed many of Ken’s short films, this is my take on his work: Each film is led by its own unique idea, and always manages to give you something new and weird, which you are unlikely to have ever seen before in film.

It seems Ken’s creative expression in each of his films that I have seen thus far, comes from an ORIGINAL element in its premise, or with the whole premise itself being an original idea.

It feels each world Ken builds for a film, and of course Her Lips Are Mine is no exception, is a world that is just a tad bit removed from what one might consider to be common reality.

Meaning, somewhere embedded in either the objectives of his characters or rooted in the plot in some way, is the unusual element Ken brings to the table.

I can’t help wonder if he found some untapped ground for originality in that place that mimics reality but is just askew enough to come off as peculiar, or absurd, in the best of ways.

In Her Lips Are Mine, Ken infuses satire in an otherwise tragic depiction. Aside from Sandy, characters seem to be slightly removed from what you might consider to be normal people behaviour. Not a great deal, but enough to make you go “Hey… this is weird”.

Done with beautiful animation, a style which felt like comic-book noir, gave the film a grim texture with a general sense of unease. Aside for some important elements, it is all done in black and white. Very fine work by animator William Hennes.

Along with the animation, a much fitting rhythmically eerie score by Vinny Alfano as well as excellent sound editing work and foleys by Vinny, with the aid of Laura Altair Hanson and Sean Froeb, gave the film a crisp and clean feel, while also strengthening an atmosphere of intrigue rooted in melancholy.

The fine work by Michele Nichols, Erika Chase, Erica Mary Gillheeney and Katie Liz Robbins in voicing the characters, also gave solid and convincing performances which added to the credibility of the story.

To sum up, from a storytelling point of view, and despite its brief 6.5-minute runtime, this film is a breath of fresh air. It is simultaneously mind-provoking, inspiring and entertaining. I personally cannot wait to see what Cohen will hit us with when he delves into feature film territory.

Her Lips Are Mine gets an 8/10 on the Look At Me, I’m A Film Critic scale!

The film is at the beginning of what marks to be a very successful festival run, just recently being accepted into the prestigious GenreBlast Film Festival, so stay tuned for further updates regarding its progress and availability.

If you would like to get a better idea of what kind of artist Ken is, several of his short film are available for streaming through the Angerman Distribution Vimeo on Demand channel! Check them out if you are in search of some inspiration. Links included.

If you’d like to catch-up on our past reviews and promos, you can find them all on our recently launched MyIndie Review Vlog Vimeo channel. Link included.

Until next time, keep supporting indie film. Watch, share, spread the word, my name is Asaf Angel, I thank you for tuning in to MyIndie Review Vlog. I’ll see you next Thursday!