When an AIDS hospice opens up in Azalea Springs, Texas, the local homophobes over-react and polarize the community. The movie is about a lesbian and a gay man coming out to their socially prominent families in a small southern town. Alex Stratton (Keri Jo Chapman) is a married woman who begins to have second thoughts about her sexual orientation. She has not had sex with her husband in months, and doesn't even talk to him anymore. Alex infuriates her mother by volunteering at the AIDS hospice. There she meets and becomes romantically involved with Grace Miller (Teresa Garrett), an old school friend who has just left her husband. He is now in jail for beating her up because she was having an affair with another woman. While Alex's self discovery is rather quick due to the constraints of movie timing, it is well handled.
The main gay chararter is Mark (Derrick Sanders), who has known that he is gay ever since he was a teenager. At "homo-no-mo group", an organization that is supposed to turn its members into "ex-gays", he meets Thomas (Timothy Vahle), is immediately attracted to him, and starts pursuing a relationship. There is also a minor subplot involving a rumor that drinking the local water turns people gay. Other subplots follow the coming out story of a young newspaper boy who ends up in bed with a sexy Latino artist, and the death of the town's openly gay interior designer.
This sexy enjoyable over-the-top comedy masquerading as a Southern potboiler has a predictable plot. The acting is not the best but it's more believable than most movies. While the straight characters tend to be rather broadly drawn, "It's in the Water" is a gentle film with stereotypical characters that allows its message to be more universal. The DVD includes a commentary by the director and leading actresses, including a discussion of what it was like for two straight actresses to play their first lesbian love scene. It's one of the few recent films with both gay men and lesbian characters. Kelli Hurd wrote the screenplay and directed.
