78 minutes – Drama
Festival release date: September 1996 (TIFF)
Release date:
Canadian Distributor: Malofilm Distribution

Kissed began life as We So Seldom Look on Love, a short story by Barbara Gowdy and deals with the ultimate sexual taboo — necrophilia. The story centres on Sandra who became fascinated with the concept of death when she was not yet a teenager. She creates elaborate rituals for dead animals and grows up to become an embalmer at a funeral parlor. Here, in the sanctity of the mortuary, she begins to explore her darker emotions with nightly visits to the corpses of dead men. When a real live man, Matt, who is a medical student, falls for her, Sandra fesses up to her strange behaviour. Matt’s need for this particular relationship drives him to find a way to make contact with Sandra on a level only she can understand. Kissed was the debut feature for director Lynne Stopkowich who also adapted the story for her screenplay. It opened to rave reviews at both the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival where it won a Best Canadian Feature – Special Jury Citation. Parker was given the 1997 Genie Award for Best Actress for her work in this film.

Also see: Contributor Maurie Alioff writes about Kissed.

Trivia: Nine actors played Cadavers. There were 64 background performers in this film, most of which have only this one film to their credit.