“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Eliza Hittman’s heart-wrenching drama tells the story of a 17-year-old girl from a working-class Pennsylvania town who travels with her cousin to New York City, where she can get an abortion without parental consent. Abortion is something of a third rail in American narrative filmmaking, and most fiction films would rather artfully dodge the specifics, or avoid the topic altogether. That is not the route Hittman takes. She walks us through every single step of this process, with such focus on the minutiae, it begins to feel like something of a procedural. And then she wallops you, building up a full head of emotional steam so subtly, you don’t realize what she’s doing until it’s done. Her low-key style and observational prowess are part of why it works so well; much of the credit for the rest goes to Sidney Flanigan’s work in the leading role, which is all the more astonishing when you discover that it’s her film debut. She has one scene here – you’ll know it when you get there – that’s simply some of the finest film acting in recent memory. It’s an extraordinary performance, and a must-see film. [Review]
“On the Record”
“For 22 years,” Drew Dixon explains, “I took it for the team.” She’s not just talking about the harassment and assault she allegedly suffered at the hands of music impresario Russell Simmons; she’s talking about an entire industry’s willingness to turn a blind eye to exploitation and misogyny, to explain why, after all this time, she’s had enough. Dixon is the primary subject of this harrowing documentary from Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering (“The Invisible War,” “The Hunting Ground”) which landed on HBO Max in May loaded with heavy with baggage: it was originally set to debut on Apple TV+, under Oprah Winfrey’s production banner, but the mogul pulled her support mere days before its Sundance premiere, claiming concern over its reporting. But some have speculated she did so in response to pressure from Simmons, who is alleged here to have sexually harassed and/or assaulted not only Dixon, but 19 other women to date, many of whom tell their stories in the doc. As per usual with Dick and Ziering’s work, the film is tightly wound, frequently upsetting, and ultimately infuriating; it’s a powerful work that deserves to be seen, unpacking vital questions and grappling with key issues of this moment in the #MeToo movement. [Review]
“The Painter and the Thief”
Benjamin Ree’s startling documentary is a case study in the stranger-than-fiction turns of reality; if you plotted this thing out in a narrative feature, not one soul would buy it. The title characters are Barbora Kysilkova, a Czech artist working in Germany, and Karl–Bertil Nordland, a career criminal who steals two of her valuable paintings from an Oslo art gallery. She attends his trial, more out of idle curiosity than to see “justice done” or anything as old-fashioned as that, and when she gets a look at Norland, she tells him, simply, “I’d love to make a portrait of you.” A peculiar friendship develops, so untethered from what we’re used to seeing (even in terms of unusual friendships) in documentaries and narrative features alike that director Ree is able to steer his picture into uncharted territory, shattering our expectations and building on the surprising turns in their dynamic with equally unexpected shifts in perspective. The result is a wildly unpredictable and warmly sympathetic picture, cleverly constructed and masterfully executed. [Review]
“Rewind”
Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s father arrived late at the hospital for his son’s delivery because he was buying a video camera – one of the early models, those clunky jobs that connected to a VCR, to capture home movies of birthdays and other family gatherings. The videos he shot at those get-togethers capture a blissful surface, but underneath was a genuine horror story, a gradually revealing (and increasingly shocking) tale of sexual and psychological abuse. The fallout ultimately widens to include circles of power in New York City’s faith communities, and that stunning story is well told here. But this is ultimately a personal journey; Sasha can’t stop examining those old tapes for subtext (and ur-text), tumbling through cycles of pain, grief, and guilt. No mincing words: “Rewind” is a tough, tough sit. But it’s this powerful story of unimaginable trauma is also, by its conclusion, an inspiring example of seemingly impossible survival. [Review]
“Shirley”
Following her dazzlingly expressive, corporeal and experimentally surreal mental health/theatre drama, “Madeline’s Madeline,” filmmaker Josephine Decker—who might be the most exciting female filmmaker working today—returns with what is her most conventional work, comparatively anyhow, and yet one of the most askew and off-kilter “biopics” ever made that disregards all biopic conventions and boundaries Elevated by a fantastic performance by Elisabeth Moss— though also featuring terrific turns by Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman, and especially relative newcomer Odessa Young—tells the unnerving tale of a famous horror writer (Moss’ Shirley Jackson) who finds unusual inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple. “Shirley” is something of domestic melodrama and chamber drama, but also riveting, artistic, psychological horror, surreal, dreamy, and nightmarish as Decker’s formidable cinematic powers are wont to do. If you have any doubts (and you shouldn’t), Martin Scorsese co-signed the film with an executive producer title because he knows Decker is the real deal. And that she is. [Review] – RP
“Straight Up”
It’s sort of staggering to contemplate the myriad of ways in which a comedy with this premise – a young gay man attempts to “straighten” himself out by pushing himself into a relationship with a woman – could’ve gone awry, and how nimbly it avoids all of the pitfalls most broad comedies would tumble into. James Sweeney, the writer, director, and co-star recognizes that there are real issues at stake here (not just sexual fluidity but also mental illness and trauma), and he treats them squarely and without judgment. And yet, in addition to all of that, “Straight Up” works in the ways that the great romantic comedies do: it’s witty, it’s fun, it’s fast-paced, and it generates a real rooting interest in its protagonists (together and apart). And Sweeney hit the jackpot with leading lady Katie Findlay; watch her bat around his screwball dialogue, take the occasional pratfall, and play the character’s pathos, and you’ll swear you’re witnessing the birth of a movie star.
