I have struggled with trying to come up with a suitable intro for this review. With its mix of sex and artistic flare it is a tough nut to pin down, and not typically the sort of thing I can readily compare to my everyday life. You see Marta’s Sex Tape is a very unique viewing experience, one that I wouldn’t not normally sit down to watch. Yet I am quite sure that is why I enjoyed it.

Marta (Pilar Padilla) is deep in debt and unsure how to drag herself out of this mess. Her friends can’t afford to buy any more of her paintings and she can’t get a job, so she decides to take a very unusual approach and make her very own sex tape in the hopes of selling it to a local pornographer. But unfortunately for Marta the tape is far too artsy, and while sex sells, there just isn’t any money in art.

It isn’t easy to describe what it is like watching Marta’s Sex Tape. Imagine, if you will, a colorized version of a Guy Maddin film chopped into small pellets, laced with whimsy, optimism and sex appeal, and which are then placed into a paintball gun and shot at high velocity at your cornea. Now this might seem uncomfortable, or possibly painful and even to some enjoyable. But as Marta’s Sex Tape bombards you with themes, colors and imagery it is certain that, for better or worse, the results will be different for every individual.

But while viewers may struggle to grasp the barrage of imagery and themes in Marta’s Sex Tape in a single sitting, it is that complexity where Marta’s Sex Tape shines. Twists and turns await in every scene, from her friends initial reluctance to support her, or her families surprising response, or in a particularly interesting turn of events, the impromptu Greek chorus that appears to offer their support and insults surrounding the events in the tape. And those twists are merely in the plot. Colors are splashed upon every frame, camera tricks lurk around every corner and the film is awash with symbolism and metaphors that sometimes should be taken literally.

But even potentially more confusing for the viewer is the film itself, which is both the linear narrative of Marta’s struggles, and her eventual sex tape as well. Yet this ouroboros isn’t merely meant to confuse, but rather director Antonio Rivero is attempting to push the viewer out of their comfort zone into a realm rarely visited, much less discussed. Marta’s Sex Tape isn’t your standard film, nor is it quite an art installation either. It flies somewhere in between, comfortably navigating from one end to another, all while the viewer desperately tries to keep up. And while such hectic travel is normally prone to frustration and annoyance, Marta’s Sex Tape manages to be that and much more.

Marta’s Sex Tape (Official Site) will be screening on Saturday, October 11th at 9pm as part of the Flyway Film Festival. For ticket information and a complete film schedule, visit the Flyway Film Festival website for complete details.