Quid Pro Quo (DVD)

Quid Pro Quo is about a wheelchair-bound parapalegic NPR reporter, Isaac (Nick Stahl), who discovers a society of "wannabe" disabled people -- they're perfectly healthy, but want to be handicapped in some way or another and reliant upon wheelchairs, braces and the like. The phenomenon is similar to the one where people want to amputate limbs because they believe those limbs are not really part of them (Nip/Tuck did an episode on this topic); but in this case, they consist of people who believe they really are disabled -- on the inside.

Anyway, his secret contact to this group turns out to be a mysterious woman, Fiona (one of my favorites, Vera Farmiga), who, after a bit of subterfuge, reveals to him that she specifically targeted him to find out what it's like to be paralyzed because she, too, wants to be in a wheelchair. They begin a flirtation that, at first, is uncomfortable for Isaac. But eventually he is seduced by her beauty and kookiness (that's the only way I can describe it -- and Farmiga, with her crazy eyes and could-snap-at-any-time-ishness, does it so well.) Their relationship leads directly to a significant change in Isaac's life, followed by some other less amazing but equally significant revelations about Fiona and her particular psychoses.

It's a short, quiet film, that is essentially a personal drama about trauma and guilt, but at times has the feel of a Shyamalanesque psychological thriller. The performances are strong: Stahl plays the level-headed sympathetic lead with nuance, and Farmiga sways from sensitive and sweet to maniacal and scary with realism. Overall, Quid Pro Quo is worth seeing, and represents a promising start for first time writer-director Carlos Brooks. B