Treading Water is the kind of movie we don't see enough of--compelling dramas about lesbians that are well-written and well-acted with high-quality production. In fact, if it weren't for the ending, this film would be close to perfect. As it is, Treading Water is still one of the best lesbian-themed indie films in years.

The 2001 film (co-written and directed by Lauren Himmel) begins promisingly as it unfolds the story about a young woman named Casey (played by Angie Redman) and her struggle to deal with her mother's unwillingness to accept her lover Alex (played by Nina Landey). Casey is a longshorewoman/boat restorer, Alex is a social worker, and they live together on Casey's boat. Across the bay, Casey's parents are preparing to celebrate Christmas with friends and family, which includes Casey's two brothers Shawn and sixteen-year-old Andrew; while Casey is out to everyone in her family but Andrew, her mother (played by Annette Miller) still refuses to meet Alex or allow Casey to bring her to the family's Christmas functions.

Unbeknownst to Casey or her parents, however, Alex actually has met Casey's parents, as she is Andrew's case worker, having been assigned to him six months earlier when he was arrested for dealing drugs--but no one in Casey's family has put two and two together to realize that Caseworker Alexandra is also Casey's Girlfriend Alex. Casey not only doesn't know Alex is Andrew's social worker, she doesn't even know Andrew (played by Shawn Nee) had been in trouble; Andrew, meanwhile, is the only one in the family who doesn't know Casey is gay--or this his caseworker whom he has a crush on is gay and his sister's girlfriend. Finally, college-student Shawn is still coping with the death of his best friend Derrick four years earlier during a midnight swim, and struggling with the guilt of being unable to save him but unable to talk about it with Casey, who was also there that night.

Complicating matters further (and injecting some much-needed levity into the film) Alex's longtime-friend Carmen (played by Lysa Apostle) comes to visit Alex and Casey for the holidays from Mexico.

As the movie wears on, the inevitable confrontation ensues--between Alex and Casey, between Casey and her family, and between Casey's mother and Alex--as everyone finally starts to talk about what they haven't been talking about. This is where the movie is at its best--in recreating the subtext and silence that hangs thickly in the air in so many white, upper-middle-class American homes, particularly around (but not confined to) issues of lesbianism.

With lots of somber piano music to reinforce the heavy doses of New England-style angst, Treading Water easily envelopes you into Casey's seaside world. The editing is smooth and the production quality is excellent--unlike so many other independent lesbian-themed movies, you would never know Treading Water was made on a shoe-string budget.

Aside from the thinly-drawn character of Casey's father, who tells one too many fifth grade-level jokes, the characters in the film are complex, interesting, and well-acted. Angie Redman is excellent as a daughter who is trying to reconcile her feelings of familial duty with her own needs.

There are times, though, when you want to smack both Casey and her mother and tell them to grow up and get over it already, especially since everyone else in the family seems okay about Casey's relationship with Alex. Director Himmel has acknowledged that Casey is "emotionally immature," and this comes across clearly in the way she consistently leaves her lover alone to run to her parents (on Christmas Eve even).

It is Nina Landey, however, who really shines in this ensemble. She is simply superb as a woman caught between her personal and professional life, between supporting her partner and not wanting to enable her. Landey has recently done mostly guest-star stints on dramas like 24, Crossing Jordan, ER, and Law and Order since she left her recurring role on Guiding Light in 1996. (It is also refreshing that Landey is gay in real life, which she discusses on the DVD commentary and in the AfterEllen.com interview.)

The film's big disappointment, however, is the ending, because nothing is really resolved or even much better than it was in the beginning--the story just ends. As a slice-of-life representation, the abrupt ending may be realistic in its refusal to neatly tie up loose ends; as a film, however, it's frustrating because there is no emotional payoff for all the drama and stress you've witnessed the past hour and a half.

It's as if the plot outline reads "struggle, struggle, struggle, the end." This is where the title becomes a little too appropriate.

Nonetheless, Treading Water is a memorable movie, and is worth watching on its own merits. Stacked up against most of the other lesbian-themed indie films from the last five years, it looks even better.