The Dark Side of Tomorrow

Drama / Romance

TW: Abuse, Blood, Homophobia and Heterosexism, Sexism and Misogyny, Sexual Assault, Violence

Worth Watching? Yes

Bechdel Test? Pass

Race Bechdel Test? Fail

Major LGBT Tropes: Camp Gay; Coming-Out Story; Gay Aesop; Gaynst; If It's You, It's Okay; Lipstick Lesbian

Synopsis (from imdb): While their husbands are away on a hunting trip, two bored housewives get together to commiserate. One thing leads to another, and they wind up in bed.

My Thoughts: As exploitation films go, Dark Side of Tomorrow is not the worst. I went back and forth on whether to recommend it. It isn't good. There is rampant homophobia and gaynst galore, but it didn't make me want to throw the TV out the window. Relative to some of the shockingly bad films I have watched up to this point (see The Girl with the Hungry Eyes), it's actually pretty good. In fact, it has a more palatable ending than lots of modern queer content. The acting is predictably bad, but for its time and given that the original intent was to create an X-rated sex film, Barbara Peeters somehow manages to pull enough of a performance out of Elizabeth Plumb to create a realistic, sympathetic sapphic coming-out story.

Don't watch this movie expecting a hidden gem from 1970. You won't find that here. Do watch it to see that it was possible, even 50 fucking years ago, to have a sapphic love story that doesn't end in tragedy.

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Queer Body Count: 0

Straight Body Count: 0

Total Queer Body Count: 17 (25%)

Total Straight Body Count: 24 (10%)

Queer Sexual Violence Victim Count: 1

Straight Sexual Violence Victim Count: 1

Total Queer Sexual Violence Victim Count: 9 (13%)

Total Straight Sexual Violence Victim Count: 4 (2%)