A woman with a history of addictions joins her
estranged extended family for Thanksgiving, hoping to get forgiveness and
reestablish connections with them.
I saw this because I've been listening to a lot of the Filmspotting podcast for the last year. There's certain movies that the hosts won't shut up about. I've learned by now that, while I appreciate their analysis and desire to sample a variety of films, my tastes don't really overlap with theirs very much. Still, I've seen some interesting movies because of them. Krisha is one of the films with the most effusive praise from them. And, I enjoyed director Trey Edward Shults' follow-up film, It Comes At Night well enough. I figured it was worth seeing Krisha.
This is a very small film. The cast is almost entirely Shults' friends and family. His aunt plays the titular role. It's a well made film, but you can tell that it was made cheap. That's part of its charm. Krisha Fairchild is quite good for someone with limited acting experience. I like how well Shults builds the tension throughout the film. So many scenes are layered with sound - obnoxious amounts of sound. You feel as overwhelmed as Krisha. I also appreciate how he leaves some room for you to put things together yourself. It's not immediately clear what the situation is and it's not until the very end that you understand exactly why Krisha has been shunned by the whole family.
That said, this was a thoroughly unenjoyable viewing experience. I feel like I experienced all of Krisha's irritation without any empathy. I got annoyed by the movie itself, not her experience of what was happening. Everyone, especially Krisha, irritated me. A lot of this was intentional. For some reason, I couldn't make that last step to absorb what the movie was doing though. I just wanted out.
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