The Story:
The cover of this DVD box is a bit misleading. I went in thinking I was going to watch a film about two teenaged lesbian lovers, one of whom somehow gets pregnant. That's not the plot of the film at all, and although that would have been quite a story, this one is just as powerful. Read on.

Teenager Olympe finds herself once again in a new school (her mother moves around a lot) and although she has a close female best friend and an adorable boyfriend, she is being tormented by a girl in school who keeps claiming her mother is a "sexual pervert."

Turns out Olympe's mother is a lesbian—and her female lover, Do, lives with them, but it appears that mom has never told Olympe that Do is more than a roommate, and Olympe never figured it out.

So Olympe goes through a rebellious teenage crisis. She acts out. She treats Do badly. She convinces herself that her boyfriend won't want to date her anymore because her mom's a lesbian. She tries to get her father to let her live with him. It was a bit confusing when she goes to visit him, because he is gay, but it seems like she knew that (it was never established that she did), and she adores him, and is excited to meet his new boyfriend, and hangs out at gay public places with them. Yet she is utterly repulsed by her new knowledge of her mother's sexuality. Although it came across like a double standard, it perfectly shows how Olympe's teen turmoil over her mother's sexuality had in part to do with her fears of what it might mean about her own sexuality.

Other than the mean girl who taunts Olympe at school, the cast is entirely likeable and charismatic, and you feel sympathetic towards each of them. Olympe becomes extremely self-centered at times, but that is the point, and you completely understand it. She's a teenager going through an identity crisis, and she ends up creating her own isolation. But we also get to see how much her boyfriend cares for her, how much her best friend loves her, and how much her parents love her. We see the devastation the secrecy is causing in her mother's life, and the havoc it reeks on her relationship with Do. And aside from being likeable, this is also one good-looking cast. The men are adorable or handsome, the women strikingly attractive or beautiful.

The film moves along at a fast pace, and you're always anxious to find out how it's going to turn out. It's never preachy, but instead, superbly touches upon the real emotions a family would go through under these circumstances. We get a glimpse, with just one character, of how a child may accept or reject having a gay parent. We see the very different ways two gay parents cope with their choice to bring a child into the world: one feels happy with the decision, the other begins to think it was a big mistake. And we get to see how heterosexuals around them will have varying opinions about the situation, and treat them in very opposite ways. This movie is so timely, that I would suggest it be seen by everyone. It's an incredible script brought to life by an excellent cast.

The DVD

Video:
The movie is in anamorphic widescreen, which always gets a cheer from me, but the picture quality is a real disappointment. There's picture noise, graininess, too much darkness and shadows, and close-ups of actors' faces are terribly greenish/yellow, making them look ill. I've not seen this film in theaters, so I cannot say if this is perhaps the fault of the original source material.

Sound:
You can choose between Dolby 2.0 or Dolby 5.1 surround. Unfortunately, the audio track does not take much advantage of either. Not much impressive sound separation.

Extras:
You have the option to turn on or off the English subtitles, and there are three trailers, two of which are for English language films, and a third foreign film which features no dialogue, just promo copy running across the screen.

Final Thoughts:
Same Sex Parents is an emotionally stirring film about how having a gay father and lesbian mother affects a teenage girl, as well as how it affects her parents and her friends. The cast is excellent, likeable and attractive. The topic is handled with honesty and humanity and it would be wonderful if people could open their minds to watching this film. The DVD itself has little in the way of extras, and the film and sound quality leave much to be desired, but do not let that stop you from seeing this wonderful movie.