Complex

By: Amos Lassen

Davo Hardy's short film "Complex" looks at two heterosexual men sharing an apartment, an occurrence we are all familiar with. However, one of just them happens to be a nudist.

Lachlan (Dan Monty) is a psychology student and he is in need of a roommate. After several applicants, Travis (Tim Crowe) moves in and makes himself at home with the nervous and neurotic Lachlan. Travis soon receives a shock when Lachlan tells him that he is an outspoken nudist. What we get to see is the social etiquette, standards and stigmas of naturism among young people in a modern urban setting. As the friction between both men continues and their plans to discuss the issue turns to a heated debate and a full-blown argument, Travis brings Caitlyn (Kat Campbell) home with the hope that he would score but only to discover that she is more interested in something a bit more that just sex and they begin a romance. She tries very hard to get the guys to live in peace together and she begins enjoying nudism. Travis, however, is not ready to let down his guard.

What I really enjoyed was seeing nudism portrayed as just fine and actually Lachlan with his nudity comes across more at ease with himself than the other characters. The fact that the characters are in their twenties also added to the interest factor here. So often when we hear about nudism, we get stories about older people whose bodies are not well developed. This again shows us something we did not expect to see.

The nudity that we see here is done with style and taste and there are some very funny moments and dialogue. The fact that we can joke about nudism makes it more real to us and it is presented as a faithful look at the lifestyle. This is in no way a "skin flick" but rather a clever short film that presents a humorous perspective of the life of the average nudist. Our characters are representative of contemporary society (in Australia where the film was made).