Love in Kilnerry has been on quite a journey to make its debut on the big screen. After its start as an off-Broadway play, writer, director and star Daniel Keith has been workshopping and screening his passion project for audiences for the last couple of years. Though the off-beat, quirky script and characters might come off a little ridiculous during the first twenty minutes or so, the film is sure to grow on you the longer you stick with it.
The small, subdued town of Kilnerry, vaguely located in America’s northeast, is stagnant. The population is older, to where reproducing is a thing of the past. They all know and tolerate one another, and each has a specific role to play in society. Some even hold two; the flamboyant mayor Jerry (Tony Triano) also doubles as the bartender. The mailman is the father of the town’s dedicated sheriff, Gary O’Reilly (played by Keith), while the perky store owner Nessa (Kathy Searle) is also busy raising her younger brother before he moves away for college.
The residents of Kilnerry are content with their simple lives. Their small town doesn’t present any real concerns, just silly problems like a year’s long rift between Jerry and the priest, which results in several all-out, physical brawls between the two. But generally, all is calm. That is, until one day when O’Reilly tells Jerry an EPA agent is coming to deliver news regarding the local chemical plant that produces a vague compound used in dog shampoo.
Rather than holding the town meeting at the usual spot — the small bar — the residents pack into their local church due to the prominence of a federal agent coming to town. There, they are notified that in an attempt to be more environmentally green, an ingredient used at the plant is being replaced. The agent introduces chemical B172, which should present no problems aside from the risk of an increased sexual libido displayed in lab rats. A frenzy quickly spreads through the older population that had assumed their frisky days were long gone. As the days pass, “problems” begin to arise: O’Reilly begins finding garden gnomes arranged in various lewd positions in his yard, and even has to pepper spray and tackle a couple he comes across naked and fornicating behind a dumpster. Despite being barely able to keep up with all the indecent acts happening with increasing frequency, he does his best to control himself by drinking only bottled water.
As the character’s sexual endeavors get more and more ridiculous, they become far more likable, while their over-the-top personalities become genuinely comical. Nessa is shocked to catch Jerry on a sexually charged, pay-by-the-minute phone call before he begins linking up with the town gossip, Brigid (Sheila Stasack). Aednat (Sybil Lines), who was perhaps the most scared of the increased libido, begins dancing again and comes back into her former self with resounding energy — she even takes a liking to the mailman who now moves with ease and lust.
Love in Kilnerry definitely feels like you’re watching an adaptation of a play as there are no real cinematic or technical efforts in its production. Instead, the film rests firmly on the agreeable qualities of its characters, the light-hearted premise and the casual jokes. They become increasingly comical as the older residents begin planning orgies or divorcing their spouses to be able to get “lost in a moment of carnal lust,” as Brigid describes it. You’ll undoubtedly find yourself chuckling when you see the likes of the couple that invested in “all that leather,” or how the priest acts as he becomes sexually liberated. In fact, because Love in Kilnerry looks so small budgeted, it makes the setting and small-town energy all the more realistic and charming.
Because of the film’s lightheartedness, the twist towards the end isn’t entirely shocking or unexpected. Instead, it’s overwhelmingly wholesome. Love in Kilnerry might not be the most polished film you’ll come across in 2022, but the level of chemistry between the characters and themes of living your life while you still have it make it all the more worthwhile. As social distancing and isolation become increasingly something of the past, we should all be inspired by the residents of Kilnerry desires to love and spend time in close proximity to one another.
The post Love In Kilnerry appeared first on Spectrum Culture.