The Venus Effect Review: Love, Lust & Doubt

Anna Emma Haudal’s The Venus Effect is an entertaining and well-acted romance that unfortunately doesn’t feel original enough.

This results in a film that should appeal to those looking for a diverting enough story of love between two girls who are still finding themselves, but that, at the same time, will probably feel too “samey” for those who’ve experienced this kind of tale before.

The Venus Effect’s protagonist is Liv (a game Johanne Milland), a young Danish woman who, despite living in a flat with her boyfriend, Sebastian (Clint Ruben), still spends time at her family’s farm, helping with the plants and the fruit picking. As the movie starts, she has a chance meeting with Andrea (Josephine Park), a slightly older girl who’s more of a free spirit, and whose car has broken down on her way to a “pussy-themed” Hen Do. Thus, Liv decides to help her and lends her her car, while she takes the other girl’s vehicle in order to hopefully repair it.

The two women meet again the next day, and immediately feel a connection between them. Liv visits Andrea at the caravan she lives in (in the middle of an orchard), and the latter decides to take Polaroids of the former. Something is brewing, but Liv is unsure of her own feelings. After all, she does have a boyfriend, but she doesn’t seem to enjoy having sex with him (or his company) that much. So when Andrea ends up caressing her and masturbating her inside her car after they go to a wedding together, Liv decides to (kinda, sorta) break up with Sebastian and be with Andrea. This choice, though, might have unexpected and dramatic consequences.

Overall, The Venus Effect feels like a coming-of-age story for Liv, despite her being an adult already. Nevertheless, she is an adult who still hasn’t fully explored her own sexuality and who, despite having been only with men before, discovers in Andrea a new kind of pleasure and love. This could’ve been conveyed in a sensual and passionate way, but The Venus Effect doesn’t really take advantage of the chemistry between Milland and Park, resorting to including a single montage of the two girls having sex and kissing and having different experiences together, as if that would be enough to convince the audience that they really like each other.

It’s a good thing, then, that both Milland and Park give solid performances, which more than compensate for their somewhat underdeveloped romance. The former plays Liv as a shy and well-meaning person who, nevertheless, doesn’t really know how to handle her new experiences with Andrea. This becomes clear when she doesn’t dare break up with Sebastian, instead inviting Andrea to lunch at her place and having her boyfriend find out that she’s now with a girl. It’s all super uncomfortable, and even though we know Liv is not a bad person, it still isn’t a good look for her.

For her part, Park plays Andrea as a free-spirited, nature-loving, sexually free and somewhat controlling individual. This last characteristic becomes apparent when she overshadows Liv at a gathering with her friends, mocking her for having little experience with lesbianism and female sexuality. It’s clearly all in jest, but Liv is still hurt, especially since she’s younger than her girlfriend, who has been out of the closet for much longer. These kinds of interactions are what make the central romance of The Venus Effect interesting; it’s a pity, then, that they’re limited to a couple of brief scenes and nothing more.

That’s because the movie also focuses on Liv’s family dramas. It turns out her father, Klaus (Lars “Admiral Thrawn” Mikkelsen) and Gitte (Sofie Gråbøl) have fallen out of love, and our protagonist thinks it’s all her fault. Moreover, it doesn’t help that they’re quite complicated individuals. She’s a bit cold and is obsessed with her daughter’s weight, even giving her a scale as a Christmas present. And he’s all about his farm, apparently more interested in plants than in her soon-to-be-ex wife. This is all rather interesting, and it helps that both Mikkelsen and Gråbøl are great, experienced performances. But it also detracts from The Venus Effect’s main storyline, even causing Andrea to be sidelined for a good portion of the third act.

The Venus Effect is not a bad movie. The performances are all great, and cinematographer Valdemar Winge Leisner shoots everything with handheld cameras and gorgeous lighting, giving the film a striking and almost dream-like look. But I couldn’t help feeling that the movie should have been more passionate and focused on its main romance, allowing the protagonists to truly appear like they’re in the middle of discovering love. The Venus Effect feels a bit like wasted potential, and although this doesn’t result in a horrible experience, it could still be somewhat frustrating for the more demanding viewers.

The Venus Effect (Venuseffekten) will be available to stream globally on digital platforms from June 2, 2025.