Dr. Marie Theres Wallner (Caroline Peters) is a successful doctor set to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband in writer/director Kat Rohrer's engaging and entertaining What a Feeling.
Her husband, it seems, has other plans.
Diversity is the heart and soul of What a Feeling, an indie rom-com that has been a crowdpleaser at LGBTQ fests all over including recent screenings at Reeling - the Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, Cinema Diverse - Palm Springs LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, Out on Film - the Atlanta LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, and New York's New Fest among others.
If you haven't guessed yet, our good doctor's plans don't go quite as expected after her husband chooses their 20th anniversary to break up with her. Going out for a drink, she stumbles into a queer bar where she meets the charismatic, fun-loving, and spontaneous Fa (Proschat Madani). The two meet-cute, Marie ending up at Fa's place after a bit too much booze. As their paths continue to cross, unexpected feelings begin to emerge for both women.
While What a Feeling would have likely worked just fine as a simple rom-com, Rohrer digs deeper here in portraying the uniqueness of coming out later in life and the layers of both family and cultural factors facing the women. The end result is an incredibly engaging and meaningful film that should easily find a wider audience once its festival journey winds down and an indie distributor wisely picks it up for what will hopefully be a solid release on all the major streaming platforms.
What a Feeling is set in Vienna and filmed in German with English subtitles. However, Rohrer's storytelling is universal and you can't help but identify with both women and their transformational journeys that unfold before our eyes. Amidst the film's mostly gentle laughs, Rohrer takes seriously her exploration of such issues as self-identity, societal acceptance/awareness, and the dynamics of how we change who we are when surrounded by those who might not understand or accept it.
Madani, a longtime friend of Rohrer's with whom Rohrer particularly wanted to work, is an absolute gem as Fa. Madani wonderfully captures both the wondrous energy and spontaneity of Fa while also her rich soulfulness and emotional complexity. As Marie, Peters absolutely endears herself to us and watching these two twogether is a joy from beginning to end.
While certain aspects of What a Feeling feel familiar, this is such a winning ensemble that it won't bother you a bit.
Lensing by Michael Schindegger is impressive throughout and Martin Gellner's original score captures both the film's comic notes and its emotional undercurrents. What a Feeling is a rom-com plus so much more with Rohrer's intelligent, heartfelt script hitting all the right notes and tugging our hearts in all the right ways.
Destined to find a much wider audience, What a Feeling is, indeed, quite the wonderful feeling.
Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
