“Holler” is not the first film to chronicle the human toll of the flight of industry from the American Rust Belt to China and other countries abroad, but it might be the most direct. “Holler” makes the subtext text by focusing on an Ohio group of scrappers, crews illegally stripping abandoned old factories and institutional buildings for raw metal that can be sold to Asian buyers. Writer-director Nicole Riegel uses this conceit, with expressive shots of breaking into haunted factories to rip copper from the walls, as an effective cinematic representation of the economic forces that have torn apart these communities.
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A semi-autobiographical film for Riegel (shot in her hometown of Jackson, Ohio), “Holler” centers on Ruth (a solid Jessica Barden), a savvy but troublesome teen girl who turns to scrapping as the only way to pay for college, her ticket out of town. Ruth’s mother (Pamela Adlon) is a currently incarcerated addict and Ruth lives with her good-hearted older brother Blaze (Gus Halper), ignoring eviction notices and living hand to mouth. While Ruth is strong in math and interested in engineering, the film shows her school not only failing to encourage that talent but actively criminalizing Ruth through punitive measures aimed at low-income students. But if the socially proscribed ladder to success fails her, scrapper boss Hark (Austin Amelio) shows her another way. A cynical veteran who’s built his own success (through dangerous and often illegal means), he disparages college and tells Ruth that her quick mind is better suited for business, which gives a more honest view of how the world works. As she’s drawn further into that dangerous work, she must decide whether to stay in her scavenged town with the people she knows or to leave for the unknown.
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“Holler” is an almost archetypal story of the difficulty of leaving home for a better opportunity, sometimes in a way that resonates but sometimes in a way that leaves one wishing for more detail. Sharp-edged and angry, Ruth can feel like more of a symbol of frustrated youth than a distinct individual. The timeline also feels a bit fuzzy; Trump and social media are invoked in the background, but they don’t affect the story and feel like modifications to a story and dialogue written 10 years ago.
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To be fair, some of this seems intentional – Riegel’s script is understated and she prefers to let the visuals speak for themselves. The strongest aspect of the film is Riegel’s evocative cinematography, showing the scrappers stealing through the cathedral-like emptiness of abandoned factories, contrasted with the activity and makeshift family led by their mom’s friend Linda (Becky Ann Baker) at her factory job until it too is shut down. Additionally, a bittersweet, almost wordless scene in a roller rink reveals far more about Ruth’s feelings than any conversation does. Through an eye for detail and strong location scouting, Riegel gives her settings as much character as the people in them.
“Holler” 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. While more specificity may have made the characters more memorable, Riegel’s visual talent, Barden’s quiet, internalized turn, and feel for her setting make “Holler” worth seeking out. [B]
