By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Kate McLean | Mario Furloni
Starring: Cameron James Matthews | Frank Mosley | George Psarras | Krisha Fairchild | Lily Gladstone | Michelle Maxson
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 80
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5785352/reference
Michael says: “FREELAND started off promising, as Devi (Krisha Fairchild), a former hippie and successful marijuana dealer with a large farm in California, struggles to transform her grass-roots, (illegal) sole proprietorship, into a legitimate business in competition with big national distributors, now that pot is legal in many states. In addition to Devi, we get to know some of the young folks who work for her including grad student Mara (Lily Gladstone), who needs to pay back her student loans, Frank (Josh Mosley) who has been with Krisha for a couple of years and has dreams of possibly becoming her partner, and Ray, who’s been a friend of Devi’s since the beginning in their commune days, and who knows it’s time to move on. Problem is, Devi is sure she can make the transition, even though she’d rather not. But when her dealers start to dry up, and her sales start to suffer, she does her best to adapt. Sadly, Furloni and McLean who co-wrote and directed FREELAND didn’t seem to know how to end it. Or perhaps they did, as Devi’s hubris and paranoia loomed over her, but the route they took turned so melodramatic and over-the-top that it tainted the tight, well-executed first three-quarters of the film for me. Interesting side-note, Mario Furloni, who also served as cinematographer, was also a cinematographer on the outstanding documentary CRIP CAMP that I recently watched. 2 1/2 cats
“IFFBoston Fall Focus 2020”