Title: Nude Tuesday
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Armagan Ballantyne
Starring: Jackie van Beek, Damon Herriman, Jemaine Clement
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins

What It Is: A couple in their 40s live the suburban life with their children, finding themselves having fallen out of love in a clumsy and unsexy marriage. The last effort to try and repair their relationship leads them to a strange romantic resort where relatively anything goes. The film is set on an unnamed island in the Pacific Ocean and is spoken in gibberish language (with subtitles).

What We Think: There’s not really any telling how this film is going to go once you start watching it, as its slightly bizarre setup and characters immediately set you on the course for an unpredictable romantic comedy centered around sex. Yes, the sex and slightly gross-out jokes abound, and are worth at least a chuckle every time. The pace of the comedy is surprisingly breakneck to the point where you can’t help but want to elongate the story that much more. The character work on behalf of the talented cast is endearingly hilarious as their chemistry brings out the unadulteratedly funny writing. Jackie van Beek as monotonous and gently-spoken Laura is hilarious as she’s dropped into a strange landscape that seems to be completely foreign to her. Her foils Damon Herriman as her obnoxious husband Bruno and Jemaine Clement as the sex guru are equally as funny due to their talent, able to save their characters from being too unintentionally annoying or creepy. Not to mention they’re not even saying real words but are still able to convey fantastic emotional storytelling and themes of miscommunication. Overall, the film is feel-good, giving its characters surprising and memorable arcs that subvert its genre.

Our Grade: B+, A huge recommendation, and one of my favorite comedies of the year, Nude Tuesday has deliciously planned a barrage of jokes and quips that leave you somehow feeling 10-lbs lighter after seeing it. A quirky film with characters both relatable and positively wacky also proves as a great potential addition to anyone’s Valentine’s movie playlist.