Review of “Fear, Love and Agoraphobia” by The Headless Critic

Fear, Love and Agoraphobia – 2017

Production by: Agora, LLC, The Cinema Gym
Distribution by: Leomark Studios



What is agoraphobia? Chet (Dustin Coffey) knows. He has crippling anxiety that keeps him from most social situations and sometimes even from leaving his home. The outside world holds many dangers and Chet’s anxiety knows about every one of them. Feeling alone in the world and his isolated existence within his house, Chet opens up his home and anxiety to a potential roommate. When his first “virginal” tenant Valentina (Chanel Marriott) opens up her anus but not her understanding of Chet’s condition, he keeps searching until a sympathetic homeless woman Maggie (Linda Burzynski) stumbles through the door.

Maggie is a former Marine whose husband just got sentenced to life in prison. She’s lost everything, including her home. Living out of her van, Maggie sinks into a deep depression becoming a borderline alcoholic. Her fate takes a turn when a man with agoraphobia opens up his home to a roommate, providing her the second chance she needs to survive. Two people crippled by life, lean on each other through their troubled times, forming an unlikely friendship.

A love story based on need, this independent film centers around one man’s fear and another woman’s real life horror story. Fear, Love and Agoraphobia may be more love story than frights but it’s still a good film. Writer and director Alex D’Lerma crafts a character driven “dramedy” with slight horror ties. It’s independent filmmaking in every way but keeps professional production values. While not the traditional horror movie I review, my second love in cinema is independent, character driven, stories like this one. Linda Burzynski impresses with a stern and realistic character in Maggie while Dustin Coffey provides a comedic but fearful performance. Lori Petty also has a nice supporting role. Not for every horror fan but if you need a break from blood sink into the life of a man who lives in fear and the woman who temporarily makes him forget.

Available on iTunes April 13th

3 out of 5 Headless Critics