The Automatic Hate (2015) User Reviews (8)

I would recommend to any indie enthusiast.

[anna-173-13810 · 7/10 · 4 January 2016]

I get to see this movie in a film festival, thinking it was a horror movie. To my surprise it wasn't even the kinda movie I would usually got to see, despite that I still enjoyed it. My boyfriend loved , thought and that's the reason I'm recommending this.

It's a drama that revolves around relationships and a mystery, with some light hints of dark (for lack of a better word)humor. Quite captivating.

I don't want to give away the plot, since the less you know the more entertaining it is. You need to be a little open minded, since implies a taboo subject. All I can say it's that's indeed a original history, which I think they could have exploit a little bit more.

If you like really fast paced, it's not your type of film. But it does flows organically, isn't boring nor feels particularly slow/dense at any point.

The acting was good most of the time, and if the protagonists would've been a bit better, this movie would be excellent. After all, the history relies in you believing and empathizing with them.

It's an indie drama worth watching if you're looking for something fresh and interesting. And also... you may wanna stay a bit after the credits.

A Good Movie About Family Secrets

[ikeybabe · 6/10 · 25 November 2016]

A well done movie about secrets - secrets that can tear families apart and the ripple effects they cause. The script was well-done and the acting was very well done, too. The whole set up keeps one in suspense until the secret is revealed or at least you think that's the secret. The brothers - apparently really book-smart since they both went to ivy league schools - followed very different paths. And their off-springs live radically different kinds of lives - polar opposites, in fact. *Spoiler Alert* The real revelation though is all about forbidden feelings and the lies we tell ourselves. The film leaves you a bit stunned and the ambiguous ending forces you to draw your own conclusions, which film-goers usually don't want. A neat, tied up ending is always desired, but still a good film.

"The Automatic Hate": Unflinching Exploration of a Forbidden Love

[jtncsmistad · 6/10 · 19 July 2018]

"Kissin' Cousins" this is not. "The Automatic Hate" takes the almost cutesy incestual premise of the 1960's Elvis musical vehicle and twists it into full force perversion. As off-kilter as it is to consider, what happens between these two long-lost relatives is, given the premise here, anyway, not as unsettling as you may well imagine.

Still, this film ends with a lingering, and haunting, uncertainty. Is this taboo relationship merely an impassioned moment in time? Or is it destined to never entirely be left in the past?

Contrived Indie

[larrys3 · 2/10 · 19 March 2017]

I'm sorry to say I found this indie to be rather abysmal. To be honest, I found myself laughing and shaking my head in disbelief at some of the stilted dialogue and contrived plot elements as they unfolded.

Joseph Cross stars here as Davis, who is approached by a young woman (Adelaide Clemens) who tells him she's his cousin Alexis and that her father (Ricky Jay) is Davis' uncle. Never knowing that he had any of these relatives, Davis begins to investigate the truth about all of this and starts to uncover a most bitter family feud, decades old, whereby his father (Richard Schiff) and his uncle have despised each other and won't even acknowledge the other's existence.

As Davis tries to unravel this mystery, be prepared for more than one incest subplot, often cringe inducing dialogue, and an ending that I found really ridiculous.

All in all, although I see other reviewers found merit with the movie, I just couldn't find much to like here at all.

Insightful. Non-Judgmental Approach to a Taboo Topic

[vegicat · 8/10 · 19 September 2016]

If you can't handle messy, real, life, this movie probably isn't for you.

This movie is two things-- it's a mystery and a drama. The mystery is about why two brothers/fathers become estranged, as explored through cousins who don't meet until they are adults.

While the movie doesn't go into much detail about the estrangement, it is a very thoughtful exploration of the confusing phenomenon called Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA), and it is a real thing, as anyone who has been adopted or has met family members they didn't grow up with can testify. That's the focus of the drama.

What it is not, as some have implied, is a story about creepy incest. It's not lurid, and not pandering in the slightest. It's not about some "slutty" cousin and some dude who is willing to throw away his education, girlfriend or profession for some hot sex. If you go into the movie thinking or expecting that, you will be disappointed.

I have no idea why another reviewer is ranting about this being a "gay" story about how being gay is hereditary. It has nothing at all to do with gay people. I think they didn't watch the movie carefully, because there was nobody gay in it at all. There are two events that happen -- the conflict of the brothers/fathers mystery estrangement, and then there's the conflict that happens when the cousins meet. There is nothing at all insinuating that anything is "hereditary".

I thought the ending was perfect. The cousin doesn't want to lose his girlfriend, but at the same time, he knows that even though she has said they can't get back together if he doesn't tell the truth, he knows that she, like probably 95% of the people who watch the movie, will absolutely not understand, accept or forgive him... so he lies.

One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. If you are curious about what is really going on in the story, Google Genetic Sexual Attraction.

Silly Subterfuge

[robtaday · 1/10 · 17 September 2016]

I do not know what the point of this film is unless the moral is incest is taboo and for a good reason. Otherwise, maybe the lesson is incest is okay. In any event, it follows a spate of gay-themed films where the one coming out is relieved to hear from their parents (usually father) that "he is a little gay too." The idea that this kind of thing runs in the family is cute too, giving it even more legitimacy.

The frustrated part is that once again, we have a young guy with supposedly everything including a Yale degree and parents with Yale degrees and uncles with Harvard degrees and ballerina girlfriends and a cool career as a chef and yet, the first chance he gets, he allows himself to be totally whipped by his slutty cousin whom he has never met in his life!!! Just like that. Of course there was no problem when mom (aunt) catches them in bed together either and her father tells him to help him butcher a hog because, if you can screw my daughter, you can help me kill a pig! Are things really that loose these days? To ask what was he was thinking is useless. Then, when he does find out the long hidden family "secret" he (and the rest of the "family") seems almost relieved. Watch The Bad Seed and you will know what I mean. And that ending - really? Will he never learn?

LIke father, like son

[mxsuba26 · 8/10 · 20 July 2018]

Dark quirky and compelling film. Without giving too much away, a very dark and foul family secret is unearthed by a professor's twenty-something son after a brief encounter with a young woman who claims to be his cousin. Plot twists, surprises, dark humor and a great dinner scene make for a good film. Don't look into the abyss. You won't like what is looking back at you.

What Was That Mess?

[mcjensen-05924 · 4/10 · 24 January 2021]

Most discriminating viewers won't be able to get past the horrendous acting and choppy idiotic dialogue and turn this off after the bar scene around the 25 minute mark. Seems like what you would end up with when all the actors and people involved in making the film are making their first movie ever. Or possibly a high school production. Beyond silly in all aspects. The way the characters interact and the numerous glaring inconsistencies make this for a very muddled viewing experience. No cinematography of note plus a forgettable soundtrack. A compelling subject reduced to a trivial and meandering disaster. Only plus is the beauty of the female cousin but that wears thin after the depth of her stupidity is revealed. Avoid!!