Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury (2018)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on June 28, 2021 @ tonymacklin.net.

Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury is two films. The first is better than the second.

The first part is about the rise of a 4-member punk band in a religious area of the South. The second part - a short film - is about what ultimately happens to them. Three of the members become Orthodox priests.

Unfortunately there is little bridge between the two. The first is about art, and the second is about religion.

The writer/director/editor/ and cinematographer Matt Hinton, later joined the band as a guitarist. As a filmmaker his heart and soul seems more in the musical journey than the religious one. There are a few religious references to Luxury, which began as Shroud, as a Christian band. But the music transcends religion.

The musical journey has spirit; the religious one doesn't.

The film and the band were fortunate in the lead singer Lee Bozeman. As a rocker, Lee was raw, alive, and creative. He had a smidgeon of David Bowie. At times he dressed with a different flair, had feminine characteristics, and created a persona with both clarity and subtlety.

The film's best section is a harrowing van wreck that almost killed the members, left them in dreadful condition in the hospital, and changed their lives. Some actual footage from the time with survivors is convincing and powerful.

When the members - including Lee - turn to commitment to Orthodox religion, there is little preparation for it.

Lee didn't like his job selling bonds, but that's not enough material about their drastic change.

The film and the music prevail for a while.

But they both settle at the end.