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| Raymond (Matt O'Leary) and Linda (Rachael Harris) in Natural Selection. |
Problems of the flesh
By John Esther
Bewitched and bewildered, Linda White (Rachael Harris), is a good, doting Christian wife who blames herself for wanting to get down with her husband (John Diehl) in a biblical way to such a degree that when he has a stroke while stroking at a sperm bank – albeit a very desperate and deregulated one – the seemingly-barren woman feels it is her godly duty to find her husband's missing bastard son.
After trekking from Texas to Florida (a "bush" correlation?), Linda finds a young man, Raymond (Matt O' Leary), who happens to be on the run from the law. (Raymond's introduction in the opening scene of the film is a mise-en-scène tour-de-force.) Raymond, the super-seed monster, agrees to be her son, thus setting off a road trip back to Texas.
Along the way, the couple endures several mishaps, misfires and even, uh oh, a marital mistake .
Marked by Harris' stellar and adorable performance, writer-director Robbie Pickering's SXSW award-winning Natural Selection offers enough credibility, satire and laughs that, despite some visually incredulous images regarding sex, make this delightful indie film worthy of watching.
