By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Julia Harty
Starring: David Strathairn | Gugu Mbatha-Raw | Lorraine Toussaint | Saniyya Sidney
Country: united_states
Year: 2019
Running time: 100
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6418778/reference
Michael says: “This was a neat little film directed by JulIa Hart, witten by Hart and Jordan Horowitz, that tells the story of a near future earth that is broken. It hasn’t rained anywhere on the planet for eight years. A young woman named Ruth is being hunted by the government because she possesses abilities that she cannot control, and they want to study her. The only place Ruth can go for safety is to her home, from which she fled years ago. There, her mother, Bo, is taking care of Ruth’s daughter, Lila, where we discover all the woman in this family possess abilities, but Ruth’s are different, unable to be controlled and potentially much more dangerous. Bo lives in isolation, and fears that Ruth’s arrival will draw the government to them. Even with the help of Ruth’s father, the government are able to take Lila, and it’s up to Ruth and Bo to resolve the conflict and rescue Lila.
It was refreshing to see the central family to be made up of women of color, and have that just be an incidental fact, and not some important connection to the story. Ruth is well-played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, most recently starring in MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, and Bo is a powerful presence in Louise Toussant, whose most notable recent appearance was in Ava DuVernay’s SELMA, but is probably most known for her recent appearances on ‘Orange is the New Black.’ David Straithairn puts in a nice supporting role as Ruth’s Dad, the local sherrif. Also notable is the fact that the director started out as an actor in TUCK EVERLASTING, before turning to writing and directing such films as MISS STEVENS starring Lily Rabe and Timonthee Chalament, and the CW’s next superhero TV series, ‘Stargirl.’ 3.5 cats“