By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Joanna Arnow
Starring: Babak Tafti | David Arnow | Joanna Arnow | Rushi Birudala | Scott Cohen
Year: 2023
Running time: 87
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27722061/reference/
Brett says: “Joanna Arnow’s feature film debut comprises a series of threads, crossing and weaving, but never quite seamless from scene to scene. The film employs a fragmented editing approach, almost as if audiences are picking up pieces here and there, just as the protagonist Ann picks up pieces of her own fragmented life, leaving behind missing and neglected shards with each passing day or week.
“The film is a portrait of Ann, a pawn in the corporate world who appears to be missing valuable components to make her life complete. The story is not a roaring alarm to feel sorry for her, however. It is a deadpan comedy that manages to strum chords of empathy, melancholy, and laughter at the same time. Despite these varying emotional chords, the music in the film remains very stagnant to match the intentional flatness of the director’s tone and delivery throughout. In just one of many examples, this is evident when the audience is left staring at a mundane meal-in-a-package preparation that elicits the aforementioned empathy, sense of melancholy, and laughter toward Ann all at once. Beyond a mere isolated depiction of meal prep, the film pushes the audience’s boundaries well outside the droll comfort of squeezing beans out of a bag, enhancing what has become surprisingly comfortable for Ann by doing so. This includes frequent and “highly-charged” sexual themes throughout.
“Perhaps the best summary of the film’s effectiveness is not what’s being said during the dialogue and through the actions of each scene. The director gives plenty of time for the audience (and Ann) to air things out, so it’s very much a story that is told through the frequent lapses and gaps. 4 cats out of 5
Chris says: “It’s not wrong detecting allusions to other directors in Joanna Arnow’s feature debut: Roy Andersson’s static camera and deadpan humor, Miranda July’s gentle, slightly off-kilter whimsy, even Woody Allen’s simple white serif-font title on a black background. One can acknowledge such influences as it’s near-impossible to create something entirely new, even in an art form that’s relatively not so old. Still, it’s tempting to deem Arnow an original talent because she brings something highly distinct to the medium both as a writer-director and as a performer.
“Arnow stars as Ann, an office worker in her early 30s whose sex life consists of a series of BDSM relationships where she is the submissive participant. In the very first scene, she’s naked in bed with a fully clothed Allen (Scott Cohen), an older divorcee who is her most prominent dominant. With her average body type and vulnerable, direct (if near-bored) demeanor, Ann immediately reads as an unconventional protagonist—plain yet with a specific point of view, a little mousy but determined, choosing her words carefully though never in a hurry to stop talking. Absurd humor is laced throughout the film’s brief vignettes which occasionally extend beyond the bedroom to Ann’s corporate workplace (a supervisor chides her for not making good on her promise not to outlast her there as an employee) and her elderly parents. Seamlessly played by Arnow’s own parents, she has arguments and other interactions with them that are simultaneously mundane, nagging and hilarious primarily for being so true-to-life: Who can’t relate to the mounting pressure of being asked to bring an unwanted piece of fruit home with them?
“Divided into five chapters, the film tracks Ann as she moves from Allen to a variety of other doms, eventually meeting a guy who might be a candidate for her first ‘normal’ relationship. What Arnow never forgets is that no matter how funny or relatable a situation may come across, ‘normal’ is itself an abstract, almost meaningless concept. The peculiar way she views the world will inevitably seem off-putting to some (that lengthy title!) but enchanting to others for how she finds the humor in these absurdities and indignities without taking herself too seriously or losing focus of what makes them seem so real. 4.5 cats
“Screened at TIFF 2023; Magnolia Pictures will distribute in the US (release date TBD)”