When it comes to films about two, young girls attempting to get an abortion for one of them, it's difficult to top Christin Mungiu's
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007). It was the Palme d'Or winner at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. Even though it didn't get the Oscar nomination that many thought it deserved, it is still ranked as one of the best films of the past 20 years. The film did receive a bunch of other accolades and represents a high bar for anyone to surmount. Writer-director Eliza Hittman doesn't surmount that bar. Her film is interesting, but its impression isn't as indelible. Its story is well told, but it's rather unassuming. It's also somewhat matter-of-fact, no histrionics, which is good, but not much of a dramatic thrust. It has one or two moments that perhaps can be spotlighted as providing something memorable, but, given the structure and the lack of dialogue, Hittman's style almost forces it to be an ephemeral thing.
This is the third feature from Hittman. I didn't review her debut, but I did see her second feature,
Beach Rats (2017). Hittman's career thus far has been a preoccupation with exploring the lives of teenagers. Her coming-of-age tales are those of the Millennial generation. Her lens here though is very low-key and subtle. She's not into flourishes or much in the way of extravagance. Her previous films were more about the sexual exploits of underage people with the possible psychological and social consequences. This film is in particular about the physical consequences, specifically one consequence, that of pregnancy.
Sidney Flanigan stars as Autumn Callahan, a 17-year-old who seems like she's a girl with a predilection for music. We're introduced to her at a school, talent show in which she's singing and playing the guitar. She's very moody and reserved, possibly depressed, after some kids heckle or tease her. There's some intimation that some are heckling her about her sexuality. She is perhaps made to feel guilty that she's been sexual in the slightest. However, there's some suggestion later that her sexual encounters might not have been all that consensual.
She thinks she might be pregnant. She gets a test, which confirms it. She then decides to get an abortion. She lives in Pennsylvania where an underage abortion would be a bit difficult, so she has to go to New York City to a Planned Parenthood there. Hittman's film basically follows her as she does exactly all of that using cinematic neorealism. Hittman also leans into the starkness and clinical nature that comes with most of it. The whole thing would almost be uneventful and not exciting if Autumn didn't have the added wrinkle that her trip ends up being longer than she thought it would be and she's rather stranded in Manhattan with no money.
Talia Ryder co-stars as Skylar, the cousin and best friend to Autumn. They work together as cashiers at a grocery store. She's slightly older but still young too. She's likely out of high school but hasn't gone onto college or anything like that. It's through her that we see the kind of sexual abuse or sexual harassment that young women have to endure. Skylar though isn't the type to speak out or fight back. She usually goes along to men's advances or demands, if only to survive and get through whatever she has to get through. She does accompany Autumn though when she makes the decision to go to New York and get an abortion.
We follow along this neorealistic journey, which builds to a very climactic scene in which possesses the line of dialogue that is the title of this film. It is by far the best scene in the film. It involves a social worker asking Autumn a series of questions. It's a scene that never shows the social worker. The camera instead stays on Autumn's face the whole time. It's a powerful moment that grows in emotion, as it reveals the level of trauma that Autumn has perhaps experienced. It also reveals how the questions are constructed because there is perhaps so much trauma, particularly sexual trauma that women face regularly, if not daily. It's highly effective. For me, it would have been more effective, if I hadn't seen the exact same thing or a very similar scene done in ABC's American Crime. In the second episode of the second season of that series, there is an analogous moment. The circumstances are different, but practically the same dynamic.
American Crime though does more to develop its characters and inform us more about the situation. This film doesn't really dig into the characters or situation. It doesn't flesh things out. Autumn is pregnant. We never learn who impregnated her. There's implications that her pregnancy was the result of a rape, but we never confirm that idea or deny it. We get a clue about Autumn's family life or home life, which is enough to provide some foundation for the character's journey, but, I would have preferred more.
Rated PG-13 for disturbing content, language, some sexual references and teen drinking
Running Time: 1 hr. and 40 mins.
Available on VOD and DVD.
Comments
Post a Comment