Review: THE LIGHTNING MAN (2018)

Being struck by lightning is one of those things that is a lot more fun in fiction than in real life. The real thing is likely to be very painful and leave you with some nasty after effects if it doesn’t kill you. In books and movies it confers people with all manner of power over electricity, the ability to read minds, and in The Lightning Man, the ability to give women orgasms with the slightest touch.

Written by Tom Young and directed by Young and Libby Mitchell The Lightning Man is a twenty-minute short. It’s the tale of John (Tom Young Knucklebones) who can not satisfy his wife Wendi (Nancy Chartier) in bed. After his latest failure leads to an argument he storms off, (still in his robe), and is struck by lightning. He survives and finds out he can give intense orgasms with even the most platonic of touches. This works on any woman except, of course, his wife.

I was offered the chance to review The Lightning Man by actress Sheri Davis (Snake With A Human Tail, Lake Of Shadows) who plays a lady of the evening in one of the film’s best bits. When she said it was a comedy for some reason I had visions of a Benny Hill type farce. The screener’s page refers to it as a “sexy comedy”. Neither describes what the film really is.

While certainly about sex, The Lightning Man is never sexy, there’s no bare skin or anything that could be called arousing. The actresses are certainly attractive but that’s as sexy as it gets. It’s also a very low-key film with the humour arising out of the well acted characters and their interactions. It’s more of a grin-and-enjoy-it than the laugh-out-loud type of film. But as I’ve noted before, few comedies actually do make me laugh these days.

Recently completed, The Lightning Man will is looking for festival screenings. You can keep updated via the film’s Facebook Page.