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SXSW: The Starling Girl

Growing up in a tight-knit and ultra-religious community hasn’t been easy for 17 year old Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen). Her elders, including her mother Heidi (Wrenn Schmidt), wield shame over the youth as a way to control them. It seems like everything Jem does, regardless of intent, draws attention to her body in a way that’s sinful. She struggles to connect with other members of the community until 28 year old youth pastor Owen (Lewis Pullman) comes back into town. Owen briefly fled his loveless marriage to Misty (Jessamine Burgum) for a mission trip to Puerto Rico. He’s come back a changed man. When Jem and Owen are reunited, it’s clear that there is an intense connection between the two. Their shared desire for quiet rebellion brings them together. Jem is torn between her obligations to her family, especially to her father Paul (Jimmi Simpson) who once led a secular life as a musician and now suffers from depression and addiction, and her growing lust for Owen.

Directed by Laurel Parmet, The Starling Girl’s tale of forbidden lust in a religious community will both titillate and disturb viewers. While the age gap is off-putting, Scanlen and Pullman are a magnetic pair and they do a great job depicting the emotional consequences of repression. Shame is a huge theme and viewers get to witness the many ways it rears its ugly head in Jem’s world. As someone who grew up in a very strict religion, I didn’t quite understand how there could be so many circumstances in which Jem and Owen were allowed to be alone together. Even a courtship scene in which Jem is matched with Owen’s brother has them alone and without an assigned chaperone. Alas, youth pastors having inappropriate relationships with minors is nothing new so these scenarios already do happen.

The Starling Girl screened at the 2023 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

Posted BIPOC

SXSW: Bottoms

PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are bonded by their lifelong friendship and shared experience as lesbian misfits at their high school. They both have their eye on cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber). Their awkwardness becomes a roadblock in their quest to get laid. When Josie injures Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), the star of the football team and an idol on campus, her crush Isabel is impressed. PJ and Josie soon concoct a plan. They start a girls-only fight club on campus, with the guise of building community, in order to impress their crushes. They even trick their teacher Mr. G (Marshawn Lynch), who is otherwise distracted by his divorce, into sponsoring them. What begins as a ruse becomes more earnest as the club members feel more empowered by their new skills and each other. All the events lead up to a football game between two rival high schools.

Directed by Emma Seligman, Bottoms is absolutely bonkers in the best way possible. The film unabashedly leans into its ridiculousness and is bolstered two strong leads. High school cliches are turned up several notches to great comedic effect. The story was co-written by Seligman and Sennott, their sophomore collaboration after the hit indie film Shiva Baby (2020).

My only quibble is that the romantic pairs, both lesbian and straight, have little chemistry. You have to suspend your disbelief in order to buy that these young people are into each other.

The cast is really stupendous. In addition to Sennott and Edebri, who have great on screen camaraderie, Marshawn Lynch, Miles Fowler and Ruby Cruz also shine in their respective roles. Bottoms is great fun and sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Bottoms had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival and is distributed by Orion Pictures.

Update: MGM and Orion Pictures will be releasing Bottoms in select theaters on August 25th. 

Posted BIPOC

SXSW: Love to Love You, Donna Summer

Donna Summer achieved a level of fame and adoration that few singers have been able to attain. “Love To Love You”, “Last Dance”, and “She Works Hard for the Money” were all major hits and became anthems for sexuality, indulgence and feminism. Despite her incredible celebrity, Donna Summer had always been an enigma. Fiercely private, when she wasn’t on stage Summer was off-limits.

Directed by Roger Ross Williams and Summer’s daughter Brooklyn Sudano, Love To Love You, Donna Summer gives viewers a peak at the real woman behind the iconic image. The documentary is comprised with archival footage from performances, television appearances and home movies along with a few scenes of Brooklyn Sudano in present day interacting with her family. There is no real narration, instead Summer’s story is told primarily through audio interviews with family members and some archival interviews from Summer herself. The film does address her religious beliefs and the controversy surrounding them during the 1980s.

Love To Love You, Donna Summer isn’t as revelatory as it promises to be and leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Donna Summer was and continues to be an enigma and although this documentary gives us a look at her celebrity and personal life, it does so in a fairly biased and roundabout way that will ultimately leave viewers unsatisfied.

Love To Love You, Donna Summer had its US premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival and will be released by HBO in May.

Emily Nestor, host of the Mile Marker 181 podcast. | Credit: Chris Kasick & Jared Washburn
Posted Documentaries

SXSW: Citizen Sleuth

The True Crime world is messy. Over the past several years, a spring of podcasts, YouTube channels, Facebook groups and message boards have popped up giving True Crime fanatics a place to indulge in their favorite mysteries. The creators who run these accounts are passionate about what they do and often self-taught in the art of investigative journalism and content creation. However, their work falls into a gray area where good intentions and questionable objectives converge. And while the intention is to be helpful, the process can also be hurtful, especially when the True Crime content creator oversteps boundaries.

Documentarian Chris Kasick’s film Citizen Sleuth profiles one True Crime podcaster whose investigation into a local case begins to unravel. Emily Nestor is the host behind the popular True Crime podcast Mile Marker 181 which is devoted to the investigation of the mysterious death of Jaleayah Davis. Nestor is a fantastic storyteller and with her podcast she expertly wove a tale of small-town intrigue and police negligence. Her goal with the podcast was to solve a murder but her years of investigation ultimately led her down a different path.

Citizen Sleuth navigates some murky waters when the documentarian becomes part of the story. And just like Nestor’s podcast, this documentary evolved into something different than what was originally intended. Nestor is fascinating. She’s vulnerable and raw. Her story makes for a compelling watch.

Citizen Sleuth had its premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

Black Barbie: A Documentary Miniature Animation Set | Credit: Bry Thomas Sanders, Animation DP
Posted BIPOC

SXSW: Black Barbie: A Documentary

The image of the blond, slim and white Barbie has been seared into our collective minds. With the Greta Gerwig movie starring Margot Robie on the horizon, Barbie has stepped back into the limelight as an important yet frivolous part of American culture. But what about Black Barbie? While the first ever Barbie doll was released in 1959, it took until 1980 for the debut of a Black Barbie. In fact, throughout history dolls have predominantly been white. When the toy industry pivoted to creating and marketing dolls with different skin colors, it was revolutionary. It’s still a work-in-progress and we’re many years from dolls being truly representative and the white Barbie to be considered the default “regular” Barbie. But Black Barbie… well she made some really important strides.

Twelve years in the making, Lagueria Davis’ debut film Black Barbie: A Documentary is an ambitious exploration of the impact Black Barbie has had over the past four decades as well as an examination of the complexities of racism and representation. Davis’ aunt, who worked for Mattel from the mid 1950s until the 1990s, was the inspiration for the project. She is interviewed extensively along with two notable Barbie designers, including Kitty Black Perkins who designed the first Black Barbie, as well as various other experts and commentators. Interviews take place on colorful and vibrant sets making it look like the subject is in a makeshift doll house. Various Barbie dolls are used as puppets in fun animation sequences

What really impressed me about this documentary is how it approaches its subject from so many angles. It’s not just a historical documentary on the history of Black Barbie. There are numerous deeply personal, philosophical and psychological discussions about the subject matter that are all done in a way that add something important to the conversation. All of these elements are pieced together in a way that keeps the audience engaged. You don’t have to even be interested in Black Barbie to be completely engrossed with this documentary. It’s just that good.

Black Barbie: A Documentary premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

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