''The Deviants'' is a

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

about a matchmaker for people with unusual sexual deviations (all of which legal or borderline legal, except

non statutory female on male rape Rape by gender classifies types of rape by the sex and gender of both the rapist and the victim. This scope includes both rape and sexual assault more generally. Most research indicates that rape affects women disproportionately, with the majority ...

). ''The Deviants'' was written by Doug Dezzani and Reid Waterer and directed by Reid Waterer. It was Waterer's first feature. The

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. F ...

Rating for the film is R for strong sexual content, nudity (by the

nudist Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

character of

Tiffany Shepis Tiffany Shepis is an American actress from New York City, who has been involved in film-making since the age of 16. She is popularly known as a "scream queen", having acted in several horror films. Career Shepis got her start playing the part ...

) and language.

Acceptance

This film was nominated for Best Feature of the 2003 Ohio Independent Film Festival. It received a rave review from Julie Washington in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

's major newspaper, ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'', in which she called it "hilarious and more heartfelt than any of the gross-out fests filling the multiplexes. A celebration of sick humor". In

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

's ''

Winston-Salem Journal The ''Winston-Salem Journal'' is an American, English language daily newspaper primarily serving Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also covers Northwestern North Carolina. The paper is owned by Lee Enterprises. ''The Journ ...

'', Mark Burger wrote: "Slight but appealing romantic comedy, in which an unorthodox dating service tries to match people with sexual quirks. Director Reid Waterer may be a talent to watch, and Tiffany Shepis is a saucy standout".

Production

Produced independently, the movie was acquired by Allumination Entertainment and released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 2004.

Plot

Norm (

Doug Dezzani Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is a hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whi ...

) the matchmaker at Hopeless Romantics can find surprising love matches for anyone, no matter how strange their behavior. However, when Norm hires sassy protégé Monique (

Tamara Curry Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Tamara Macarena Valcárcel Serrano, Spanish singer, also known mononymously as Tamara * Tamara, another stage name of Spanish ...

) and tries to teach her the tricks of the trade, they encounter the wildest clients he's ever had, some of whom are: * Marina (

), a female

who seeks someone who will share her views on social nudity and sexuality. That is, someone who will see her constant nakedness in appreciation of the human body rather than an invitation for sex. * Norm himself, who always feels incomplete in sex due to his failure to experience simultaneous orgasms with his female partner. * Cecilia (

Angel Boris Angel Lynn Boris (born August 2, 1974) is an American model and actress sometimes credited as Angel Boris Reed. Career Boris was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Angel is an exotic combination of Spanish, Irish, English and Italian, knew she wan ...

), a

hypersexual Hypersexuality is a proposed medical condition said to cause unwanted or excessive sexual arousal, causing people to engage in or think about sexual activity to a point of distress or impairment., according to the website of ''Psychology Toda ...

woman who can't talk to men in private without immediately raping them at gunpoint and/or by knocking them out (see

somnophilia Somnophilia (from Latin ''somnus'' "sleep" and Greek language, Greek φιλία, ''-philia'' "friendship") is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexual arousal, sexually aroused by someone who's asleep or Unconsciousness, unconscious.Flo ...

). She does the latter to Norm himself when she first presents her problem to him in his private office, and the former to Monique's former boyfriend (in a date which Norm later arranged for them). * A house cleaner, who is aroused by

pubic hair Pubic hair (or pubes , ) is terminal hair, terminal body hair that is found in the sex organ, genital area and pubic region of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs, and sometimes at the top of the inside ...

. Therefore, she either collects it from her clients' houses or sneaks up on her male clients and plucks their pubic hair directly. * A man who is aroused by cats. * A bodybuilder who feels his

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

is too small. * A woman who can only reach orgasm while standing upside down on her head. * Chad (Brad Yoder), a pool guy who can't help peeing into his clients' swimming pools for arousal. * Ivan (

Christopher Bradley Bagheera Bagheera is a black panther, based upon ''The Jungle Book'' character of the same name. Nakia Bahadir Nakia Bahadir is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a Turkish girl and friend ...

), a "handicapped"

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man who uses his wheelchair as an excuse to stare at people's crotches. He's unable to do so directly, as he feels unwanted in the gay community due to his older age. Somehow, Norm and Monique find the right match for each of their clients as well as for themselves, thus ending the movie on the positive note that there's a right match out there for everybody.

References

External links

''The Deviants''
review at the

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deviants, The 2004 films American independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films