AFT Awards: Best Limited Performance – Female

This is the nineteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category, which is sometimes split into male and female and sometimes been combined.

Honorable mentions:
Amanda Peet (Sleeping with Other People), Chloe Grace Moretz (Clouds of Sils Maria), Connie Britton (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Dascha Polano (Joy), Juno Temple (Black Mass), Katherine C. Hughes (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Marcia Gay Harden (Grandma), Meryl Streep (Suffragette), Natasha Lyonne (Sleeping with Other People), Perla Haney-Jardine (Steve Jobs)

The winner:
Judy Greer (Grandma) was a formidable and believable opponent for Lily Tomlin’s torrential girlfriend, a young woman with aspirations and a handful of hurtful academic slurs to disparage her offender.

Other nominees:
Molly Shannon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) was one of the best consistent oddities in her film, always ready to share a glass of red wine with her daughter’s friends and live in her own version of reality. Dakota Johnson (Black Mass) felt like she fit in as a mobster’s wife but revealed in just a few scenes what she truly held valuable. Heather Lind (Mistress America) stole the show from a number of other talented players as a remnant of the title heroine’s past not too eager to let her live her mistakes down. Katherine Waterston (Steve Jobs) was a consistent thorn in her film’s protagonist’s side, there to remind him that he didn’t control anything and that she wasn’t willing to be forgotten.

AFT Awards: Best Limited Performance – Male

This is the eighteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category, which is sometimes split into male and female and sometimes been combined.

Honorable mentions:
Bryan Brown (Kill Me Three Times), Corey Stoll (Black Mass), David Harbour (Black Mass), James Badge Dale (The Walk), John Slattery (Spotlight), Jon Bernthal (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Luke Hemsworth (Kill Me Three Times), Michael Chernus (Mistress America), Peter Sarsgaard (Black Mass)

The winner:
Stanley Tucci (Spotlight) accomplished a careful balance between rightful paranoia and legal incompetence, crafting a believable and magnetic character in the process.

Other nominees:
Billy Crudup (Spotlight) was one smiling face assuring everyone that nothing was wrong, a perfect friendly symbol for the monstrous coverups of misdeeds, while Jamey Sheridan (Spotlight) painted a more human picture of the difficulty of deciding what to do in impossible situations. Nick Offerman (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) was hilariously obsessive about his strange meats and odd outlook on life, perfectly cast for a peculiar part. Michael Chernus (People, Places, Things) delivered a wonderfully funny and fresh take on the “other man” and all the awkwardness that comes along with that.

AFT Awards: Best Breakthrough Performance

This is the seventeenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Hannah Murray (Bridgend), Giulia Salerno (Misunderstood), Yanet Mojica (Sand Dollars), Joséphine Japy (Breathe), Lou de Laâge (Breathe)

The winner:
Jacob Tremblay (Room) truly inhabited the role of a boy who had never been outside of one small room, and demonstrated maturity and promise well beyond his few years.

Other nominees:
Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) were such vital parts of their film as two of the title characters, each so marvelously suited for their particular roles and their distinct perceptions of the world. Günes Sensoy (Mustang) demonstrated such an incredible sense of longing and dreaming for something more complex and rewarding than her lot in life, guiding her film through its miserable reality. Brooke Bloom (She’s Lost Control) kept her film’s title in check with a revealing and insightful lead performance.

AFT Awards: Best Visual Effects

This is the sixteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mention:
The Revenant

The winner:
The Walk marvelously and seamlessly recreated a landscape that everyone knows was tragically destroyed over a decade ago, setting it as the stage for its most impressive extended scene.

Other nominees:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ex Machina
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Martian

AFT Awards: Best Makeup and Hairstyling

This is the fifteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Concussion, Mad Max: Fury Road

The winner:
Black Mass disguised its lead actor and made him unrecognizable, but also made up the rest of the mob to look their parts and the time in which they lived.

Other nominees:
The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

AFT Awards: Best Sound Editing

This is the fourteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Creed, The Hateful Eight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian

The winner:
The Walk let some of its theatrical elements do the talking, with its circus surroundings and tightrope wires just as vocal as its illustrious protagonist.

Other nominees:
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sicario
‘71

AFT Awards: Best Sound

This is the thirteenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario

The winner:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens blasted back into a galaxy far, far away with a terrific return to what was always one of the best things about its franchise: its spectacular sound.

Other nominees:
The Martian
‘71
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight

AFT Awards: Best Original Song

This is the twelfth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category. I guess I just didn’t hear that many songs this year in movies, so I have just three nominees.

The winner:
See You Again (Furious 7) initially didn’t speak to me because I didn’t love the film and the scene in which it was featured, but after hearing it a lot, it’s clear that it is a terrific tribute to an actor who died far too young.

Other nominees:
Simple Song #3 (Youth)
Hey Baby Doll (Danny Collins)

AFT Awards: Best Original Score

This is the eleventh category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Runners-up:
Carol, 99 Homes

The winner:
Tangerines (Niaz Diasamidze) was deeply moving in its melody that anchored the intense drama of having three men with enormously different worldviews under one roof.

Other nominees:
Spotlight (Howard Shore)
The Hateful Eight (Ennio Morricone)
Sicario (Jóhann Jóhannsson)
The Danish Girl (Alexandre Desplat)

AFT Awards: Best Film Editing

This is the tenth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Runners-up:
Beasts of No Nation, Creed, Ex Machina, Joy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Mississippi Grind, Room, Son of Saul, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Steve Jobs, Tangerines, The Big Short, The Martian, The Revenant, The Walk, Wednesday 04:45, Woman in Gold, Z for Zachariah

The winner:
Wild Tales (Damián Szifrón and Pablo Barbieri Carrera) was an incredible assembly of stories that were not interconnected but related to the same themes, intertwined seamlessly and effectively to create one overarching narrative.

Other nominees:
99 Homes (Ramin Bahrani)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Joel Alexis)
Spotlight (Tom McArdle)
’71 (Chris Wyatt)

AFT Awards: Best Costume Design

This is the ninth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Runners-up:
Bridge of Spies, The Fencer, The Revenant, Trumbo

The winner:
The Danish Girl (Paco Delgado) met its characters in a state of extreme transition and provided a stellar wardrobe for the entire process.

Other nominees:
Brooklyn (Odile Dicks-Mireaux)
Carol (Sandy Powell)
The Hateful Eight (Courtney Hoffman)
Joy (Michael Wilkinson)

AFT Awards: Best Art Direction

This is the eighth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Runners-up:
'71, 99 Homes, Beasts of No Nation, Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Shanghai, Son of Saul, The Hateful Eight, The Martian, The Revenant, Trumbo

The winner:
Carol (Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler) told a period love story with an abundance of stylized colors and purposefully created backdrops to anchor it in an even more timeless universe.

Other nominees:
Brooklyn (François Séguin, Louise Tremblay, Jenny Oman, Suzanne Cloutier)
Joy (Judy Becker, Jim Coraloran, Peter Rogness)
The Danish Girl (Eve Stewart and Michael Standish)
Misunderstood (Eugenia F. Di Napoli)

AFT Awards: Best Cinematography

This is the seventh category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Runners-up:
99 Homes, Beasts of No Nation, Bridgend, Brooklyn, Clouds of Sils Maria , James White, Joy, Mad Max: Fury Road, Man from Reno, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Misunderstood, Room, Sicario, Son of Saul, Spotlight, Tangerines, The Danish Girl, The Hateful Eight, The Martian, The Revenant, Z for Zachariah

The winner:
’71 (Tat Radcliffe) stranded its protagonist in a terrifying unknown landscape, and the camera followed him with such furious intensity that it became an integral part of telling the story.

Other nominees:
The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Carol (Edward Lachman)
Steve Jobs (Alwin H. Küchler)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Jeanne Lapoirie)

AFT Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay

This is the sixth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Carol, Creed, The Danish Girl, The Walk, Woman in Gold, Z for Zachariah

Runners-up:
Anomalisa
The Martian
Beasts of No Nation
Black Mass
Brooklyn

The winner:
Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin) tackled a life as complicated and unique as its protagonists’ with a visionary approach, boiling down all his most important relationships to three crucial events in his technological career.

Other nominees:
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Jesse Andrews)
Room (Emma Donoghue)
The Big Short (Charles Randolph and Adam McKay)
The Lady in the Van (Alan Bennett)

AFT Awards: Best Original Screenplay

This is the fifth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
99 Homes, Apartment Troubles, Being 14, Clouds of Sils Maria, Ex Machina, Felix and Meira, Freeheld, Misunderstood, Mustang, She's Lost Control, Son of Saul, The Bronze, The Fencer, The Film Critic, The Overnight, The Second Mother, Trumbo, Wild Tales

Runners-up:
Spotlight
The Hateful Eight
Tangerines
Mississippi Grind
Inside Out

The winner:
Sleeping with Other People (Leslye Headland) was a raunchy, romantic, and energizing comedy full of sexual tension and original jokes.

Other nominees:
People, Places, Things (James C. Strouse)
Joy (David O. Russell and Annie Mumolo)
Grandma (Paul Weitz)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz)

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

This is the fourth category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Analeigh Tipton (Mississippi Grind), Aundrea Gadsby (People, Places, Things), Camila Mardila (The Second Mother), Caren Pistorius (Slow West), Doga Zeynep Doguslu (Mustang), Dolores Fonzi (The Film Critic), Elisabeth Rohm (Joy), Elit Iscan (Mustang), Ellen Page (Freeheld), Gia Gadsby (People, Places, Things), Hailee Steinfeld (Ten Thousand Saints), Helen Mirren (Trumbo), Ilayda Akdogan (Mustang), Isabella Rossellini (Joy), Jessica Chastain (The Martian), Jessica Williams (People, Places, Things), Judith Godrèche (The Overnight), Julia Garner (Grandma), Julianne Nicholson (Black Mass), Karine Teles (The Second Mother), Sienna Miller (Mississippi Grind), Tatiana Maslany (Woman in Gold), Teresa Palmer (Kill Me Three Times), Tessa Thompson (Creed), Tugba Sunguroglu (Mustang), Virginia Madsen (Joy)

Runners-up:
Andrea Savage (Sleeping with Other People)
Charlotte Gainsbourg (Misunderstood)
Helena Bonham Carter (Suffragette)
Regina Hall (People, Places, Things)
Charlotte Le Bon (The Walk)

The winner:
Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), the last part of her film’s title, provided a singular energy that made her (almost) instantly everything to the main character, full of life despite her certain prognosis and not ready to say goodbye to the world without living life her way.

Other nominees:
Stephanie Allynne (People, Places, Things) played so well off Jemaine Clement as his eternally perplexing ex-spouse, always so into whatever she is saying or arguing despite its inherent strangeness or incongruity. Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) could have melted into the background of her film, but instead she was an ardent, essential part of it, managing the life of her partner and boss as best she could without living it for him. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria) astronomically transcended expectations of her acting abilities with this nuanced, calm performance as an assistant fully immersed in her job as her life. Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa) earns special mention not for the performance that earned her an Oscar nomination but for the film-defining voice filled with bright energy turn in this picture of absurdity that saw her as the only bright light in one man’s monotonous life.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This is the third category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Ben Mendelsohn (Slow West), Benedict Cumberbatch (Black Mass), Bradley Cooper (Joy), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian), Edgar Ramirez (Joy), Emile Hirsch (Ten Thousand Saints), Giorgi Nakashidze (Tangerines), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Jeff Daniels (Steve Jobs), Jeff Daniels (The Martian), Josh Charles (Freeheld), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Michael Fassbender (Slow West), Michael Stuhlbarg (Steve Jobs), Mikheil Meskhi (Tangerines), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Rory Cochrane (Black Mass), Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs), Steve Carell (Freeheld), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Thomas Middleditch (The Bronze), Tom Noonan (Anomalisa), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Domnhall Gleeson (The Revenant), Max Irons (Woman in Gold), Chris Pine (Z for Zachariah)

Runners-up:
Robert De Niro (Joy)
Jason Mantzoukas (Sleeping with Other People)
Harvey Keitel (Youth)
Gabriel Garko (Misunderstood)
Joel Edgerton (Black Mass)

The winner:
Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight) stood out in a stacked cast because of the pure delight and energy he brought to his rampant racism and outlook on his situation, matching five Oscar nominees and a handful of other respected actors to prove that he is worthy of incredible film roles.

Other nominees:
RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), as the middle part of his film’s title, was droll and unenthusiastic, so perfectly muted in contrast to the absurdity of his film parodies and the excitement of his costar. Sasson Gabai (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) and Menashe Noy (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) did most of the talking for a sparring couple, investing their characters’ emotions into a trial that wasn’t initially about them and truly laying their emotions bare in a way lawyers rarely do. Jason Schwartzman (The Overnight) was just the actor to play a peculiar young father with some strange interest that isn’t immediately apparent, an odd but hilarious role for the always committed actor.

AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Alice Braga (Kill Me Three Times), Brooke Bloom (She's Lost Control), Cate Blanchett (Carol), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), Geraldine Chaplin (Sand Dollars), Giulia Salerno (Misunderstood), Greta Gerwig (Mistress America), Günes Sensoy (Mustang), Hadas Yaron (Felix and Meira), Hannah Murray (Bridgend), Helen Mirren (Woman in Gold), Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Jennifer Prediger (Apartment Troubles), Jess Weixler (Apartment Troubles), Joséphine Japy (Breathe), Julianne Moore (Freeheld), Juliette Binoche (Clouds of Sils Maria), Lola Kirke (Mistress America), Lou de Laâge (Breathe), Margot Robbie (Z for Zachariah), Melissa Rauch (The Bronze), Regina Casé (The Second Mother), Yanet Mojica (Sand Dollars)

Runners-up:
Alison Brie (Sleeping with Other People)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Taylor Schilling (The Overnight)
Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van)

The winner:
Brie Larson (Room) molded a mother with literally nothing besides her son in her life, creating a character so strong and full of happiness that in no way matched the horror of her reality.

Other nominees:
Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) teamed up with David O. Russell for another immensely successful collaboration, this time playing a real person defined by perseverance against all odds and a fantastic driven lead for a superb film. Ronit Elkabetz (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem) was an inspiring emblem of fruitless efforts, constantly crying out for freedom and being repeatedly denied any rights. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) stole her film from her costar with a more enticing role as a spirited, opinionated wife not content to be relegated to the shadows in any part of her relationship. Lily Tomlin (Grandma) walked all over every single other person in her film, creating a nightmare of a grandmother who actually has more heart than she cares to admit.

AFT Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role

This is the first category of the 9th Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them and drawn from a pool of approximately 122 films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions:
Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation), Adam Scott (The Overnight), Alex Jennings (The Lady in the Van), Asa Butterfield (Ten Thousand Saints), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Z for Zachariah), Christopher Abbott (James White), Domnhall Gleeson (Ex Machina), Geza Rohrig (Son of Saul), Jack O'Connell ('71), Jason Segel (The End of the Tour), Jason Sudeikis (Sleeping with Other People), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Slow West), Lembit Ulfsak (Tangerines), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Märt Avandi (The Fencer), Martin Dubreil (Felix and Meira), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Michael Keaton (Spotlight), Rafael Spregelburd (The Film Critic), Ryan Reynolds (Woman in Gold), Simon Abkarian (Gett: The Trial of Vivianne Amsalem), Thomas Mann (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Will Smith (Concussion)

Runners-up:
Jemaine Clement (People, Places, Things)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Andrew Garfield (99 Homes)
Ryan Reynolds (Mississippi Grind)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

The winner:
Jacob Tremblay (Room), at just nine years old, offered a fascinating perspective on the world through Jack’s eyes, so filled with wonder and an intense, naive maturity.

Other nominees:
Johnny Depp (Black Mass) disappeared physically and emotionally into the body of a mobster with his most memorable performance in a long time. Michael Shannon (99 Homes) eviscerated those around him with Rick’s cutthroat drive to succeed and crush all who weren’t willing to meet him at the same level. Ben Mendelsohn (Mississippi Grind) offered a complex, endearing portrait of a gambler who can’t possibly hope to stop himself when the time is right. Matt Damon (The Martian) dominated an entire planet with his sense of humor and film-carrying energy.

Movie with Abe: Portrait of a Serial Monogamist

Portrait of a Serial Monogamist
Directed by John Mitchell and Christina Zeidler
Released January 29, 2016

The term “serial monogamist” is never meant to be a compliment. Not nearly as bad as a serial killer, someone known for being in a series of committed relationships that never seem to make it past the short-term phase is rarely held in high regard. Often, these people are well aware that they have trouble with longevity and seem to have an exit strategy prepared whenever anything threatens to get too serious or permanent. This portrait of a serial monogamist shows exactly such a character, someone who, after being broken up with once, vowed never to feel that way again and to always be one step ahead of any possible negative outcome.

Proud Toronto native Elsie (Diane Flacks) doesn’t make a great first impression to her audience, but she’s quick to defend herself. To break up with her latest live-in girlfriend, Elsie cooks her a meal that reminds her of their first date, and, after pointing out that they’ve had problems recently, forces her rib-consuming girlfriend to be the one to casually suggest they break up before walking out when a conveniently-invited buffer guest arrives to soften the blow. Elsie is well-known in her circle of friends for this behavior, and therefore it’s no surprise when the woman Elsie starts to realize might have been the real deal doesn’t so easily exit her life, sending her into an agonizing period of self-examination that has her reconsidering her whole approach to romance.

Billed as a lesbian romantic comedy, “Portrait of a Serial Monogamist” is certainly that. There are few men who appear in the film, and they are inconsequential at best since Elsie’s relationship drama pertains only to women. There seems to be no problem or stigma with Elsie’s sexual orientation, and her family is more fixated on her choice of specific partner rather than her gender. Elsie’s mother frequently reminds her daughter that she is just a “nice Jewish girl from Montreal,” a fact that matters little in the film save for the scene in which Elsie brings a date wearing a cross to a Shabbat dinner, a faux pas that is barely mentioned.

Elsie is meant to be flawed, but it’s hard to find a central character more irritating who doesn’t have many redeeming qualities. She is irritating, selfish, and elitist, and there isn’t much in the film that suggests otherwise or offers her the opportunity to change. That makes it difficult to connect with her and the film in general, leaving it as a passable but hardly essential look at one woman so obsessed with being in control of everything that she is not prepared to relinquish anything in the pursuit of happiness.

C+