Romeo’s Distress (2016)- A Film about love and other really weird stuff- Fitz of Horror Review

Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror) September 8, 2018

Synopsis-“Romeo’s Distress” is a Weird, Shakespearean, Gothic, Horror-Thriller that tells a story of a boy name James, his unrequited love for a girl named Jane, and her father’s sadistic (yet dutiful) response to it all.

Jeff Frumess’s Romeo’s Distress is an interesting film in more ways than one. The first thing that hit me was that it was shot in Black and White which always seems to add an interesting extra layer to any film but this seemed significant because of our main character James (Anthony Malchar) and his unique and slightly twisted view of the world.

As we are introduced to James we discover that he is planted firmly in his own little world, singing, dancing and taking pictures of everything. James has apparently taken pictures of something or someone that has piqued the interest of some shady and violent characters and they want his camera.

In the background of the film a strange love story is played out between James and his love interest Jane. Every time we see these two on screen together it seems to be a dream or a flashback of some sort and the film trades it’s Black and White pallet for a full color approach, obviously because she is the color in his otherwise colorless life.

With a cast of characters from James’s world, his seemingly insane Grandmother, his blissfully insane (but very insightful) Uncle Elmo and his bossy therapist, we can see why his outlook on life is rather bleek. Things aren’t as bad as they could be though when the other characters are introduced into his life. For some reason they want the contents of his camera but they also want him dead. One of these fine people are Jane’s father. Jane’s father has much more sinister plans for James which include but aren’t limited to kidnap, torture and electrocution, all because Romeo loves his daughter. What in the world could Romeo have done to deserve such hate?

Romeo’s Distress is a twisted hopeless love story unlike any I have ever seen. It is beautifully shot with elements of pure art house to polished film noir. It had the feel of that weird movie that Jeremy Sisto Showed to Angela Bettis in MAY as well as sometimes feeling like a David Lynch movie with out copying his style. The shots within the gorgeous settings are amazing as well featuring expert cinematography at times that add to the intentional feeling of despair and the subtle yet powerful soundtrack all make for a unique viewing experience.

I was not at all expecting to like this movie as much as I did but it was so extremely well done and weird (without being alienating) that is was almost mesmerizing. I admit I did feel lost at some points with the story but the twist made everything come into clear perspective. Romeo’s Distress is way ahead of it’s time and for that reason seems to be lost in the indie shuffle but trust me when I say that it is well worth a watch.

Beware- You will have the “Cheesecake of Love” song stuck in your head afterwards.

Romeo’s Distress is currently streaming for free on Amazon Prime

Follow them on Facebook at Romeo’s Distress

Follow me on Facebook at Fitz of Horror