Sarah Waters' Affinity Review

Release Date: August 19th, 2008
Publisher: LOGO
Price: $21.99 on Amazon
Rating: Not Rated
Run Time: 90 Minutes
Genre: Drama, Gay and Lesbian, Supernatural
Starring: Domini Blythe, Anna Massey, Amanda Plummer, Anne Reid, Zoe Tapper
Special Features: Bonus Scene, Interviews

Based on the mystery romance novel by Sarah Water, Affinity is a tale of possession and love in the late 19th century. Margaret is a wealthy woman that has decided to work in a woman’s prison after her father suddenly dies. Margaret thinks she can help the women prisoners and give them comfort during their ordeal in prison. While visiting at the prison she meets Selina and immediately becomes infatuated with her. Selina claims to be a medium and was incarcerated after one of her séances went wrong. Margaret is suspicious at first of her abilities but she soon learns that there is more to it than first thought.

I will get right to the point and say that I didn’t really enjoy Affinity that much. The main reason I didn’t like it was the fact that it is a period piece. I am not really that much of a fan or period pieces. Affinity takes place in the late 1800’s. If I had to compare Affinity to other movies I would have to compare it to masterpiece theater type movies. It is not a masterpiece theater movie but it has the same type of style and pacing.

On thing this movie has that masterpiece theater movies don’t have is the supernatural elements. The supernatural elements aren’t that big in my opinion since they really weren’t the main focus of the movie in my opinion. You definitely wouldn’t consider this a sci-fi movie. The medium and spirits are more used as a backdrop and aren’t the main aspect of the movie in my opinion. Unless you are really into mediums and spirits, I wouldn’t use the fact that it is technically a supernatural movie as a reason to purchase Affinity.

One thing I do have to bring up about the movie is that there is a lesbian based story throughout the movie. While this personally doesn’t bother me I know it might bother some people. I know this will turn some people off of this movie.

Finally the special features really aren’t anything special at least in my opinion. You get a bonus scene which isn’t much, and you get interviews with the cast. The interviews are around 30 minutes long but I wouldn’t consider them very entertaining. If you really liked the movie you might get some enjoyment out of them but I would recommend a pass for everyone else.

So I can’t say that I really like Affinity. I personally thought it was pretty boring and that was mostly due to the fact that it was more of a period piece which I am usually not a huge fan of. Even though I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t like it. If you are a fan of either period piece dramas or gay and lesbian cinema I would recommend that you at least look into picking up the DVD.