Premise: A 16-year-old girl visits her aunt in Chicago for a few weeks.
I'll admit, I get a little scared of LGBTQ movies sometimes. So many of the ones I come across end up being about the worst that that life has to offer, and I'm not always in the mood for hate crimes, shunnings, or suicide. Even though I picked this recommendation up from a podcast host who generally doesn't favor the doom and gloom, I was still hesitant. That's what's nice about coming up with a movie list to see ahead of time though. Sometimes, I just make myself watch stuff and open myself to really pleasant surprises.
The movie starts off a little rough. I've seen enough movies at this point that I'm immediately suspicious of any modern American movie in which I don't recognize any of the actresses or actors. And the movie anticipates a feeling out period. That's what Cyd and her Aunt Miranda are doing too: feeling each other out. This could’ve gone a lot of ways, and I'm really pleased with the direction it chose.
This is a very generous and non-judgmental movie. It's the simple story of how two people learn from each other and grow into better people. Not in huge ways but in nice ways. Cyd (Jessie Pinnick) gets a better appreciation for art and feels comfortable exploring her identity. Miranda (Rebecca Spence) realizes she's gotten stuck in her ways and becomes more free spirited. On paper, on sounds a little corny, and maybe it is. It's done in a really honest and realistic way though. The movie repeatedly surprised me with changes in tact. Sometimes it was small moments, like Cyd giving Katie crap for thinking that going from South Carolina to Chicago would be a culture shock*. Or, it's bigger moment like Miranda explaining the different pleasures in her life after Cyd makes a quip about her needing to get laid. I loved a lot in this movie, and a lot of it comes down to the filmmakers smartly remembering to keep the movie small. Not in a budget way. Rather, in the intensity of the story.
*Reminder to all screenwriters and directors. The south has cities too. It's not 5000 square miles of small Podunk towns.
There are a few moment or aspects where it can't help itself from being an indie movie. The movie filming across the street that asks Cyd and Katie to be in the background feels like more of a filmmaker fantasy than a real thing. Miranda being a famous author throwing raging, all-ages poetry circles is up there with the number of people in RomComs who happen to run art galleries: sure, I suppose it's possible, but it feels more like a fantasy. Katie's harrowing experience at her apartment didn't really feel needed, but it really didn't go that extreme either. None of these things really bothered me but they certainly lean into trope territory. The only thing that really went extreme was the story of how Cyd's mom died. I don't think it had to be so violent. I'm not sure what that added that Cyd being an only child whose mom died in a car accident wouldn't've covered.
Overall, this was just a sweet, short, thoughtful movie. I really enjoyed how the ending doesn't go too far to tie things up. There are a lot of unanswered questions about where Cyd and Miranda will go from here, but it's nice to know that they have that relationship when they need it now.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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