Director Zeph E. Daniel dives back into the late-’90s erotic-thriller playground with Transference, a restored version of his 1999 film Dementia—a story of desire, danger, and psychological freefall. A soon-to-be wealthy heiress, Katherine (Patricia Bursiel), finds herself in the psych ward after a severe mental collapse. Against her doctor’s wishes, her remaining family refuses to continue paying for her to stay at the hospital. A compromise is reached, allowing Katherine to stay at a home by the beach and be supervised by Luisa (Marisol Padilla Sánchez), the only nurse at the hospital she connected with.
Now, Luisa has problems of her own. She is in an abusive relationship with her husband, Sonny (Matt Schulze), with whom she shares a child. Sonny comes by her home every so often for conjugal visits and then blows up in angry bursts for very little reason. Staying with Katherine seems like the best place to hide.
Luisa’s solace doesn’t last long, and she finds herself being manipulated by everyone around her. Her boss has an oh-so-obvious attraction to Luisa, often crossing the line of sexual harassment. Luisa is flung back and forth by Katherine’s bipolar episodes, and, of course, Sonny shows up as a source of aggressive tension. Things come to a head when Katherine’s boyfriend, Martin (Jesus Nebot), arrives. He is familiar with Luisa, and soon a sexually charged love triangle — more of a square — forms. At one point, Luisa begins flirting with Martin, which sets off both Katherine and Sonny.
“A sexually charged love triangle — more of a square — forms.”
The best way I can describe Transference is that it’s, ironically, a psychological thriller about mental health. It’s wrong in all the right ways. Originally produced in 1999 under the title Dementia, it came out on the tail end of the erotic thriller craze, and this is decidedly an erotic thriller, as the sexual tension constantly entangles Luisa in one trap after another, all culminating in a sticky entanglement between Luisa, Katherine, and Sonny.
If you’re familiar with the work of Zeph E. Daniel, you know that nothing is ever easy for his protagonist. What should be a straightforward piece about triumph over mental health issues becomes a slow, steady, downward spiral. What Daniel does in Transference is play around with status and dominance. There’s a dance happening between our three lead characters, and at various times they take the lead in their own dark way, manipulating the others. The stakes, sexual or otherwise, are raised over and over again until there are bodies left in its wake.
The acting overall is on par with the ’90s erotic thriller genre. It is good enough to get hormone levels elevated, and Sánchez gives a stellar performance as she becomes the target of a steady supply of toxic masculinity. She’s a powder keg, and it all ends in a sloppy mess. What more could you ask?
Transference doesn’t try to fix the sins of its era, nor should it. Like the story, it’s not slick or polished. Instead, it’s rough and sticky. It may not have been meant for today, but many of us wish it had been.
For screening information, visit the official Transference site.
"…Sánchez gives a stellar performance..."
