MAY 12 & 13

Watching this film, it’s easy to understand how local writer/director Ariadne Kimberly enlisted such relatively well-known actresses as Maria de Medeiros (Pulp Fiction), Brooke Smith (Vanya on 42nd Street), and Portia de Rossi (Sirens) to appear in her small-budget first feature. Set in a yoga spa/rehab center in the Arizona desert, the film offers the three actresses many opportunities to display their gifts for psychodrama: Memory-haunted Elena (de Medeiros, pictured), bulimic lesbian cowgirl Randy (Smith), and laxative-addicted party animal Shauna (de Rossi) get to brood, rage, and weep. (De Medeiros even plays a scene against herself.) Despite such outbursts, however, the film is easygoing and loosely plotted; there are no glib revelations, and the conclusion is open-ended. Indeed, some may wish the story revealed a bit more about the characters, especially Elena, who is reportedly semi-autobiographical. Still, Kimberly was probably wise not to script the sort of psychological breakthroughs that occur much more often in movies than in life. Nicely shot by Richard Raddon and Mark Borman, this is a solid first effort. At 5:15, 7:15, & 9:15 p.m. at the Key Theater, 1222 Wisconsin Ave. NW. $4-7. (202) 333-5100. (Mark Jenkins)