People fall into two categories when it comes to love. One minuscule collection of lucky individuals has romance all figured out. However, the people in the dominant group have an impressive ability to mess everything up. Writers/directors Andy Irvine and Mark Smoot fall into the latter category of poor souls and decided to make a movie about it called “The Love Inside.”

In this tragically realistic film competing in the Narrative Feature competition at the Dallas International Film Festival, three couples spend one toxic, unforgettable weekend in a remote cabin in Texas.

One couple consists of the innocent and kind-hearted Kate (Betsey Phillips) and the less sugary sweet Vaughan (Zachary Knighton), who coordinate the weekend getaway for the group to announce their engagement. The other couples consist of Joel (Joey Kern), a sexually adventurous oversized child, and Gemma (Ashley Spillers), Joel’s rambunctious “playmate.” The last couple, Erica and Brian, presents the problem.

Back in their college days, Erica and Vaughan dated for three years; yet Vaughan has no idea that Erica is dating his best friend, or that he;s coming to his engagement announcement extravaganza. As one could infer, things quickly go south, but not just for Erica and Vaughan.

The unfinished sexual and emotional tension between Erica and Vaughan leads everyone in the house to make one terrible decision after the other. As the film comes to a close and their disastrous weekend ends, the characters have done a 180 degree flip, and every relationship has changed. Though this film might seem like a hilarious story idea, it’s not so funny when you hear the directors say it actually happened.

People say that art is a form of therapy. Well, Andy Irvine and Mark Smoot certainly listened to those people. A couple weeks back, when I attended the round table press session for the Dallas International Film Festival, the directors revealed that the film’s storyline was drawn from personal experiences.

Half-joking, Smoot even added during the interview, “I’m actually missing an appointment with my therapist for this.”

This film certainly appeals to those who have been burned in the romantic arena. The duo of directors incorporates raw sexual scenes, poignant dialogue, and tense argumentative scenes that bring a heaviness to the film. Sometimes too much is simply too much. Smoot and Irvine might have not considered that.

The film’s intended message might have been “love sucks.” However, the picture the film actually painted was of a group of sexually uncontrollable, shallow adults- with the exception of the kind-hearted Katie character.

The technical aspects were almost too subtle, which created even more emphasis on the weird tensions between the characters. The actors did portray their characters with uniqueness and believability, but that was also the problem. Though this film was supposed to appeal to people working through emotional problems, the characters just weren’t likable. The cynicism in the writing wasn’t even endearing, but landed more on the side of offensive.

All in all, some might enjoy this jaded little love story, but I personally felt it was too sexual, too jaded, and too odd of a narrative.