All About E, a great Down Under Lesbian Drama
Take a sexy female DJ with coming-out issues, add her flamboyant Irish gay roommate, a side of romance, a dash of crime, and what do you have? A concoction for an absolutely superb film that’s guaranteed to entertain you on your next Movie Night.
All About E, the new lesbian feature film from director/screenwriter Louise Wadley, follows E (Mandahla Rose), a queer-but-closeted DJ, as she works the nightclub scene where the ladies are hot for her. Little do her traditional Lebanese parents know that she, too, is hot for the ladies. A classical music student who has given up her studies to work in her “uncle’s” club, E realizes she’s in way over her head with the lie she’s created when her girlfriend, Trish (Julia Billington), leaves her for not coming out to her parents about their relationship. Twelve months after their breakup, and after having probably a dozen women in her bed, E leaves the club one night only to find that she has taken the wrong duffel bag—and in it a stack of cash that belongs to Johnny, the nightclub owner. Instead of returning the cash, E embarks on a road trip with her GBF, Matt (Brett Rogers), with the nightclub goons in hot pursuit. After several days on the run, the duo eventually ends up on Trish’s farm, in the middle of nowhere, seeking safety from the mob. Will old flames re-ignite? Can E keep the money and live on the run?
The energy in All About E is simply magical.
All the characters have their own personalities, and the way they’re thrown together makes for a vibrant mix—not to mention an eclectic abundance of accents from around the globe.
But perhaps the most interesting creation is E herself, a character we haven’t yet seen on the big screen. There are many sides to E: serious musician, womanizer, dreamer, bandit. Mandahla Rose, our next big lesbian heartthrob, says, “I adored playing each of the roles within E. There were parts of shooting that were challenging—but E, she seemed to come naturally.”
“I had wanted to make a film with complex heroines,” says Louise Wadley. And that she did. E’s life is complicated and the plot isn’t just about losing the love of her life—it’s about possibly losing her life. Meanwhile, Trish, who is out, proud, and independent, knows what she wants, and wants the same for E. “I was also sure I wanted it to be really entertaining, while being about something real,” explains Wadley. “I love road movies because the characters are forced to act, and in doing so they face themselves.”
When it comes to what we all want from a lesbian film, high on our list is the chemistry between the female characters, and—let’s face it—a good sex scene.
“That’s the ultimate test, right? That you believe in the relationship between the two lovers,” says Billington. “Dahls [Mandahla] and I had instant chemistry from the moment we met in my audition. We both entered those roles wanting to make the best, most truthful lesbian love story we could, and so we kinda gave each other permission to just really go there.”
All About E has that buildup we crave and delivers an incredibly tender and passionate love scene that will have you reaching for the rewind button. “It’s not often we get accurately portrayed lesbian relationships on screen,” says Rose. “I think that Louise wrote something that is not only emotionally satisfying for the lesbian community, but the film also speaks to anyone who has ever been in love.”
If you haven’t seen All About E at one of the many LGBT film festivals this year, put it on your must-watch list. “If you want to see a movie that is about real people, that is fun, sexy, and has great actors and a great soundtrack, then this is your film,” says Wadley.
Billington agrees. “You ain’t seen nothing like this film yet! It’s fun, it’s heart-breaking, it’s thrilling, it’s beautiful, it shows off Australia’s stunning countryside, it has intricate and deep central characters—they’re also rather hot, if I do say so myself!—and the dog steals the show.”
Seriously, what more do you want?