What would you do to escape your small town in hopes of a better future? For the young woman at the center of “Holler,” she’s willing to do things that aren’t necessarily legal to ensure she can pay for college and leave her Southern Ohio town.
READ MORE: ‘Holler’: Jessica Barden Shines In A Drama About Scavenging The American Dream [Review]
With “Holler” arriving in theaters next month, we are thrilled to give our readers a chance to see an exclusive clip from the new drama. As mentioned, the film follows the story of Ruth Avery (Jessica Barden), a young woman that is accepted to college and is put in a situation where she must break the law as an illegal scrapper to help fund her dreams. In our review of the film, we said the drama “succeeds at putting a human face on large-scale economic trends, telling a suspenseful coming of age story that shows the true cost of lost opportunity.”
In addition to Barden, the cast for “Holler” includes Gus Halper, Pamela Adlon, and Becky Ann Baker. The drama is written and directed by Nicole Riegel, making her feature film directorial debut. Speaking to us about the film, Riegel explains what makes “Holler” feel so personal for the filmmaker.
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“‘Holler’ is a deeply personal film about my pursuit of higher education as a young woman growing up in Southern Ohio,” she said. “It’s also the first film about Appalachia to come out of Hollywood that is directed and written by someone from my corner of the country. My home is often depicted with a lack of nuance and empathy because girls, like the one at the center of my film, rarely find ourselves behind the camera. All of this makes ‘Holler’ something to be celebrated.”
“Holler” is set to open in select theaters and on VOD on June 11. You can watch the exclusive clip below.
Here’s the synopsis:
In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery joins a dangerous scrap metal crew in order to pay her way. Together, they spend one brutal winter working the scrap yards during the day and stealing valuable metal from the once thriving factories by night. With her goal in sight, Ruth finds that the ultimate cost of an education for a girl like her may be more than she bargained for, and she soon finds herself torn between a promising future and the family she would leave behind.
