Doesn’t it suck when you suspect your girlfriend might be a murderer? Hold up—let’s rewind the tape here. We’re going into dark comedy territory, folks. And you’re going to love it.
Women Who Kill is out writer-director Ingrid Jungermann‘s debut feature film (and the winner of Tribeca’s Best Screenplay Award). In it, she stars as Morgan, co-host of a podcast about female murderers also called Women Who Kill. And her fabulous co-host? That would be her ex-girlfriend, Jean (Ann Carr). They’re the kind of duo everyone insists belong together, but Morgan’s been rallying against that lately, wanting to find the same type of excitement in her love life as she has in her work.
Enter the mysterious Simone (Sheila Vand), the new volunteer at the food co-op Morgan works at. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention they live and work in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Trust me, the little details matter. Anyway, as Simone gets ready for volunteer orientation, it’s clear her orientation swings in the way of Morgan (see what I did there?). And while Morgan tries to act all professional at first, soon that’s set aside in favor of grabbing Simone’s number from the volunteer sign-up sheet.
Where to go on your first date? Apparently the bar where you’re hanging out with your lesbian friends and where your ex is very likely to pop by. Yup, that was awkward.
But somehow it doesn’t faze Simone. Maybe it’s because she’s a fan of the show, which admittedly is a little weird. In any case, they sleep together that night and, like good lesbians, just take it from there.
Of course, there’s still the matter of Jean, who gets adorably jealous about the women’s growing relationship. It’s got to be especially tough for her because she and Morgan had up until that point still been acting coupley. They were certainly still best friends, and now Morgan’s not even texting her to tell her she won’t be sleeping at home! Still, I think building a file on your ex’s new girlfriend is a bit much…
Unsurprisingly, Morgan’s not hearing her suspicions. That is until a random on the street starts calling Simone “Allison.” But even that she can somewhat overlook until Simone starts wanting to get serious. And yet, Morgan still agrees to move in with her.
But when their boss, Grace (Deborah Rush), turns up dead, Morgan suddenly wants to know what Jean has on Simone. What she has is seemingly proof that Simone is actually Allison Walker, daughter of serial killer Josephine Walker, the infamous nail clipper murderer. But is she really just an innocent victim in all this?
Morgan seems to think not, but this change of attitude has now got Jean questioning her. Why is it that now that Simone’s allowing herself to be vulnerable with Morgan that Morgan’s starting to see red flags? It’s more than implied that Morgan has a history of doing this that Jean knows well.
That doesn’t change the issue at hand here, though. Morgan could be living with a murderer. At the very least, she’s coupled up with a woman who’s keeping some BIG secrets. And if she is a murderer, not only is Morgan not safe, but Jean is a very likely target as well.
So what do you do under these circumstances when you’ve studied women who kill for years? You try to avoid you and your loved ones joining the kill count at all costs. In doing so, dark comedy ensues.
Women Who Kill plays at Frameline in San Francisco on June 24 and at Outfest in Los Angeles on July 16. Visit the movie’s Facebook page to keep up with future screening news.
