Claire of the Moon Movie Review

💫 Between Conflict and Prejudice — A Genuine Love Blossoming Between Two Women, Claire and Noel

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: Claire of the Moon (1992)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 USA
🎞️ Genre: Romance / Drama / WLW (Women Loving Women)
📢 Director: Nicole Conn
📺 Platform: DVD, some online streaming (varies by region)

👩‍💼 Cast: Trisha Todd – Claire Jabrowski (Claire)
Karen Trumbo – Dr. Noel Benedict (Noel)

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers Included)

🌊 The Contrast and Chemistry: The Clash of Intellect and Sensuality

The film unfolds on the Oregon coast at a secluded women writers’ retreat, where two radically contrasting women, Claire and Noel, are placed in the same cabin, creating immediate tension.

• Claire (Claire Jabrowski): A satirical writer known as heterosexual — outgoing, messy, and seemingly carefree. Recently heartbroken, she masks her pain through casual relationships and alcohol and cigarettes. Her bold exterior hides deep inner dissatisfaction and confusion, acting as a defense mechanism.

• Noel (Dr. Noel Benedict): A lesbian psychiatrist and author specializing in human sexuality and behavior. She is composed, intellectual, and restrained — yet emotionally guarded after a devastating breakup.

Their relationship begins with nervous dissonance but gradually evolves into a dance of intellect, where Claire’s chaotic energy and Noel’s calm reasoning draw them toward one another. The two embody opposing poles — dissatisfaction within heterosexual life and the liberation of lesbian identity.

🏳️‍🌈 “Words” and “Theory” as a Coming-Out Journey

Claire of the Moon stands out from other queer films for its reliance on lengthy, philosophical dialogue rather than visual storytelling or dramatic events.

• Reflection of 1990s Queer Theory: The group discussions among the women writers resemble early 1990s feminist and queer theory debates brought to screen. Claire bombards Noel with questions about lesbian life and sexuality, while Noel offers logical and academic responses. These exchanges serve as both Claire’s inner questioning and a form of queer education for the audience of that era.

• Intellectual Foreplay: The mental sparring and intellectual debate between the two women function as a long, slow “foreplay” preceding any physical contact. Through these conversations, Claire comes to realize that the emptiness she felt in heterosexual relationships stems from a lack of true intimacy — something she discovers in Noel. The film emphasizes that sexual attraction can arise from emotional understanding and intellectual resonance rather than purely physical desire.

✍️ Claire’s Journey: From Confused Heterosexual to Self-Acceptance

The most significant narrative arc of the film is Claire’s transformation of identity.

• The Border Between Curiosity and Love: Noel initially interprets Claire’s attraction as merely “a straight woman’s temporary sexual curiosity.” This reflects a common concern in lesbian communities of the time, wary of heterosexual women entering queer spaces out of curiosity rather than authenticity.

• The Turning Point: After a slow emotional buildup, Claire finally admits that her feelings for Noel go beyond curiosity — they represent real love and self-discovery. The film culminates in a sensual and passionate love scene, symbolizing Claire’s completed coming-out. This scene was groundbreaking at the time for portraying women’s intimacy and joy from a distinctly female perspective.

🪶 Courage Within Aesthetic Limitations

Claire of the Moon faced criticism for being “overly talkative and slow-paced,” “amateurishly directed,” and for ending abruptly at the moment of Claire’s self-realization without resolving the future of the two protagonists. Yet, despite these flaws, the film’s importance lies elsewhere.

It carries the following cinematic significance:

• A Cornerstone of 1990s Queer Cinema: Following the 1980s classic Desert Hearts, Claire of the Moon became another vital work directed by a female filmmaker that portrayed a positive and romantic lesbian relationship for women audiences.

• A Manual for Identity Exploration: The film treats sexual orientation not as a sudden event but as a process of reflection, illustrating how coming out can be an intricate intellectual and emotional struggle. It became a “textbook” of lesbian self-discovery for its time.

Despite its aesthetic shortcomings, Claire of the Moon remains a brave and sincere 1990s queer romance that offered audiences a space to affirm and celebrate their love on screen.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥♥
⭐ Overall Rating: ★★★★★