Are you content? That is exactly the question posed over and over again by those at the center of Michael Myburski’s sci-fi romance, Turn Me On. This unique feature posits the concept of a perfect world, one free of illness and war, but also of love and connection. Would humans be happier without succumbing to their base desires? Can we ever truly be “perfectly content” if our emotions are stifled to the point of numbness? Our entryway into this oddball universe are a young couple who have been amicably paired, as played by Nick Robinson (Love, Simon, Jurassic World) and Bel Powley (Cold Copy, The Diary of a Teenage Girl). A vitamin now exists to dull all emotions; in this world, even baby deliveries are scheduled as if they are work appointments. Decidedly small scale in nature, this sexually-charged, high concept sci-fi riff greatly benefits from the searing chemistry between Robinson and Powley.
Living in “a state of perfect contentment,” Joy (Powley) and William (Robinson) have been on a government-mandated regimen of the vitamin for as long as they can remember. Their daily routine consists of yoga, flavorless plain smoothies, and mindlessly clocking in for work before heading home to rinse and repeat all over again. Seeing each other in the nude has no effect on their minds, nor do either of them have a reaction to touch. All of this changes when Joy gets diagnosed with a deadly tumor. Given just one month to live, Joy is given the option to stop taking the vitamin for one day only in order for her treatment to work. While neither Joy nor William show any type of emotion when she learns of her diagnosis, an awakening occurs within Joy the second she ceases taking the vitamin. Can she ever go back?
Joy begins to experience real emotions for the very first time, from laughter to sexual desire. She convinces William to join her in abstaining temporarily, vowing they will go back to normal afterward. William, too, starts to open up—he does not even understand his own erection, citing the firmness. They explore each other’s bodies as if two cavemen, completely tone-deaf about sexuality and emotion. They refer to sex as “syncing.” In this relationship, Turn Me On develops into an exceedingly entertaining little indie. The duo attempt to spread what they have discovered to others in their orbit, and begin to neglect work in the process. Both Powley and Robinson flip between robotic-like emotionlessness to puppy dog love and amble curiosity with ease.
Screenwriter Angela Bourassa finds the electricity in these character dynamics. Her script plays a juggling act, keeping the actual scope quite small, yet still managing to keep an ominous presence looming large over its central characters. What happens to those who break the rules? Is complacency and safety more important than freedom? These are big questions to ask any audience, and Bourassa finds a way in through the often silly relationship dynamics. Be it jealousy or simply sexual exploration, the primal nature of this dynamic always keeps Turn Me On exciting to watch throughout its breezy runtime.
For fans of Nick Robinson, plenty of shirtless scenes and silly sexual situations abound. The interplay between Joy, William, and the others play into the strangely comedic circumstances they find themselves smothered within. We never find out specifically who created the vitamin, nor is there any insight into why they prefer humans to have their emotions dulled. If looking for some kind of deep meditation on the human experience, look elsewhere. Turn Me On is a subtle journey into sci-fi strangeness, with a deeply horny Nick Robinson and Bel Powley ably along for the ride.
Turn Me On offers up its emotion-suppressing vitamins for general audiences, now available everywhere on Video on Demand.
