‘Roleplay’ Review – An Illuminating Look At Campus Sexual Violence [SXSW 2024]

One of the most consequential discussions in entertainment today is who can tell stories. Audiences are actively seeking more perspectives, and there are more opportunities and venues than at any point in history. And yet, there are still visible and invisible barriers that dictate the stories we see and the voices behind them.

Take, for instance, campus sexual violence. There is no debating its pervasiveness. According to RAINN, 13% of graduate and undergraduate students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. When you imagine what an instance of sexual violence looks like, though, what person or persons pop into your mind? What of their gender, race, or sexual identity? What are the circumstances, and what are the lingering effects of the crime?

Roleplay casts a blinding light on how stories of campus sexual violence are shaped and even silenced. The documentary follows a theater workshop at Tulane University as they collaborate on a piece responding to the school’s rampant cases of sexual assault. (According to a survey cited in the film, 40% of Tulane students reported being sexual assault survivors.) As the students build their characters, develop the script, and rehearse challenging scenes, the film explores their daily lives. It also engages them in conversations about their college experiences. Beyond sex and dating, the students discuss how their campus lives reflect issues involving identity, substance abuse, toxic masculinity, and PTSD.

Roleplay initially unfolds how you would expect a documentary exploring the intersection of art and sexual violence would. The students participate in several creative exercises to prepare them for the storytelling’s rigor. Several students are spotlighted, each with different reasons for participating in the workshop and different experiences with sexual violence. Intercut with the rehearsals are scenes showing how Tulane’s Greek life, partying, and drinking define the college’s social network. It’s a damning but unsurprising portrait of rape culture’s manifestation. It highlights how unprepared we are to handle it for various reasons, including sexual education, outdated views on consent, and increased apathy.

Roleplay becomes a critical tool in its own right when it stumbles upon the agency or lack thereof that storytellers of sexual violence have. Halfway through, the co-directors share the script’s first draft with the students, informed by their exercises and interviews with other students. The script dismayed several students who felt it didn’t reflect their work and experiences. One queer student criticized the script’s heteronormativity, describing the perspective as “straight, white frat people.” Alexandra, a Black student, agreed that the script’s Greek life lens didn’t reflect her experiences, even though she directly participated in the ideation process. “If the whole point of this project is to change norms, why are we still falling into the same norms we’re trying to break,” she asked the group.

One response to the first draft is heartbreaking and indicative of how narrow sexual violence narratives can be. The film introduces Miranda with her girlfriend, discussing her sexual exploration on campus and her parents’ reactions to her queerness. Miranda also shared how she was sexually assaulted in high school. Because the perpetrator was another girl, she wasn’t sure it counted as assault and sought confirmation from her teacher. The script’s heteronormativity was a slap in the face to her. “I wasn’t important,” Miranda explained in her testimonial. “I wasn’t a part of this process. It shows nothing’s in there about me.” It was so disheartening for her that she considered leaving the project altogether.

The co-directors eventually revise the script to better reflect the experiences of its creative partners. However, the tension lingers as rehearsals continue and the students reconcile their participation with their experiences. Aaron, who plays a perpetrator of sexual assault, is startlingly candid about his inner voice exploring his options whenever he escorts an inebriated female classmate home. Implicit in that admission is the revelation that he would control the narrative if he took advantage of a student. As one rehearsal drives home, it takes extraordinary will for a survivor to get the truth from their attacker. When you consider the physical, social, and psychological toll of sexual violence on survivors, perpetrators frequently have the advantage.

The documentary pushes further by asking why the co-directors would script an experience excluding much of the creative company. Is it because white, heteronormative culture defines Tulane, and the students could only receive the piece if they saw themselves? What does it say about the students if they can’t engage with sexual violence outside of a particular example? While it may not have been the intention, the co-directors reinforced a rigid definition of sexual violence that makes it harder for survivors to share stories that fall outside of it. 

More than a documentary about campus sexual violence, Roleplay is a damning window into the ways society reinforces rape culture. The film tackles a specific case where we carefully curate the narratives we tell and the storytellers behind them. That process unintentionally and intentionally shuts out the ones that don’t adhere to our deeply ingrained expectations of a lurker in the bushes or a drug slipped into a drink. By limiting depictions of sexual violence to one specific experience, perpetrator, or survivor, we not only ignore important stories but assist perpetrators in setting the narratives to their benefit. Roleplay challenges Tulane, and the audience, to re-examine what we think rape looks like. Doing so will help us continue to dismantle the systems that let it thrive on college campuses and beyond.

Roleplay had its World Premiere at SXSW 2024 in the Documentary Feature Competition section. 

Director: Katie Mathews

Rated: NR

Runtime: 85m