Portrait of a Serial Monogamist has a simple premise: what if the lovable schmuck from nearly every rom-com ever was a lesbian? Consider it part of the small but (encouragingly) growing catalogue of movies and TV shows making an attempt to portray LGBT characters as “just like everybody else.” Note that this approach has wildly varying degrees of success. But Portrait at least has a solid foundation built on tried and true tropes, and it follows those pretty much to the letter.
The initial inspiration for co-writer/directors John Mitchell and Christina Zeidler was, in fact, High Fidelity. Just think of Diane Flacks’ Elsie as the John Cusack character, afraid of both commitment and rejection. Instead of a record store, Elsie works at a Toronto TV station covering local arts on a show called “Mostly Music.” And, like Cusack’s character, Elsie has just broken up with her girlfriend of five years, Robyn (Carolyn Taylor). As Elsie explains to the camera—because breaking the fourth wall is also a genre requisite—she’s an accomplished breakup artist, but this time she’s finding it difficult to launch into yet another monogamous relationship. As Elsie tells us, “You’ve heard of Shakespearean drama or daytime drama or baby-mama drama. Well, nothing compares to lesbian drama.”
Elsie knows there will be backlash from her friends once they find out about Robyn. Her mother (an understated Robin Duke) disapproves for the reason most mothers disapprove of a single, middle-aged child. “In my day, if a woman your age was single we called her an old maid,” she warns. Elsie doesn’t miss the opportunity to point out that “old maid” was just a euphemism for lesbian. Elsie’s friends are more supportive, albeit in a roundabout way. Sarah (Sabrina Jalees) attempts to cure Elsie of her addiction to coupledom by encouraging no-strings-attached flings, but her character comes across as a pained cliché of a predatory lesbian fishing for commitment-free hookups at the dog park. Elsie’s best friend Grace (Caroline Gillis) finally gives the film an explicit goal by betting that our “serial monogamist” can’t stay single for five months. Elsie accepts the challenge and laughs it off as too easy, but she’s simultaneously pursuing DJ/photographer Lolli (Vanessa Dunn) and fighting off the worry that she made a huge mistake by dumping Robyn.
One of the tenets of classic rom-coms holds that the male lead must be immature, yet charming, and frequently those men are professional failures. To Portrait‘s credit, it aims for slightly more realism; Elsie makes poor decisions in her personal life, but her professional life is on the rise. And when it comes to the ensemble aspect of rom-coms, inviting viewers into the whole world of the character, the LGBT twist works in its favor. When Elsie introduces Toronto’s gay scene (an “enclave subgenre of queers”), it feels much more authentic than hearing about someone’s token corner of Brooklyn. And this is very much an indie film that makes a point of celebrating its corner of Toronto. A huge part of that is due to Celiana Cárdenas’ cinematography that captures the character of city.
Aside from being a clever and funny rom-com, Portrait of a Serial Monogamist once again proves that Canada continues to lead the way in producing films and TV with diverse queer characters. The concept of a lesbian rom-com that ends well (at least in the sense that no one dies; otherwise, it’s surprisingly downbeat.) shouldn’t be novel, but since it is, all credit to Mitchell and Zeidler for making one that is notable not just for its characters’ sexuality but for its incisive comedy.