A Pequena Frances

My favourite film genre is 'social realism'. I have a bit of an (albeit fair) reputation for only liking bleak human dramas. But human dramas don't have to be bleak, and people don't have to be nasty to make a good film. And Saint Frances is a beautiful film. Not a hint of saccharine, but a lovely study of how, despite their not inconsiderable troubles, people can be, and ultimately are, nice. Done well like this, heart warming dramas are every bit as emotionally compelling as their oft bleak counterparts. A lovely film for New Years Eve....

A great way to kick of 2021 was to watch one of Mark Kermode's top 10 of 2020 on Netflix.

This lovely American Indie movie, Saint Frances, written by and starring Kelly O'Sullivan. Nope, me neither.

It's the story of a 30 something 'girl' who's pretty much failed in life so far, who simultaneously gets a new boyfriend who gets her pregnant but is happy with her undertaking a quick abortion (and go halfers on the fee), and lands a summer job as a nanny for a six year old kid who has mixed race lesbian parents.

The kid's a brat and is running through nannies.

So you know how this all gonna pan out right?

Well, not really. What we embark on is a fairly, but not overly, emotional study in female empowerment (and actually entitlement because one of the moms is a pretty high achieving ball buster), loneliness, self-worth and social value.

The one guy in the movie isn't cast asunder as unimportant but he plays a side role. He's a good guy actually.

The four-way Mom, mom, nanny, kid (and a new baby which makes suppressed Mom, depressed Mom) dynamic is complicated and rarely sees the main protagonist played by O'Sullivan in a position of strength. Meanwhile her abortion has some fairly gross out complications although none that derail the narrative.

It's actually a bit of a comedy but it's a lot more than that. It's certainly bittersweet, but sweet enough.

Hugely thought provoking with several powerful central performances, a strong exploration of issues that face women today (one critic said it was too woke for its own good but I disagree) and a few really good laughs along the way.

What's not to love?

Trust the rotten tomatoes score. This is a gem that has won countless festival awards and for good reason. It isn't action packed but it is real in a way few films are. The characters are so good that my wife who hates talking about movies was doing a deep dive into the main character and what she represents and how she was portrayed. Most of all this film has a lot of soul and it doesn't shy away from any of the taboos that so many big budget films avoid. Despite this it's a very healing movie, one that makes you question why our culture considers these things taboos at all. I think some of the press that it is getting has been that it is a political film but I dont think it is. And even though I have strong political views that some might prematurely conclude that the film bolsters I think the movie does the harder work of building a world that you never want to leave and letting the viewer interpret what it all means. Its the kind of film that seems to me to have layers, layers based off real experience and since it was one of my favorites in awhile I am excited to watch it again soon ( something I almost never do.) My wife gives it 8 stars out of ten. I give it 10

Watching a movie like "Saint Frances" reminds a viewer how rarely we're treated to a truly female-driven movie. Oh sure, there are plenty of movies starring women, a few even (gasp!) directed by them, and lots that purport to be about women's "issues," whatever that means. But it's very rare to have a movie created by women, starring women, and about topics that mostly affect only women and in which the presence or lack thereof of male characters is largely irrelevant to the central issue.

"Saint Frances" isn't a great movie, but it's a very good one and feels in its own unambitious way like something fresh among a sea of mediocre movies. Writer and star Kelly O'Sullivan creates a character who some viewers are sure to dislike and judge, but it's also a character that feels authentic and complex and real and like, you know, the way actual real people are instead of the way they're depicted in lots of other carefully scripted films. The movie has a preoccupation with the biology of women in general and with menstrual blood in particular, and it's to the film's credit that it treats with matter-of-fact seriousness things (like periods, breast feeding, and other things that only women experience) that are used as the butts of jokes in our popular culture or otherwise inexplicably treated with outright disgust. It commits that sin common to feel-good indie movies of wanting to wrap up everything a bit too neatly with a shiny bow, but the sin isn't so egregious in this movie as to ruin the overall experience of watching it.

I also got a kick out of the fact that the movie is set in and was filmed, at least partially, in Evanston, Illinois, which is where I live. It was really fun recognizing locations and dissecting how accurately the film captured life in such a liberal progressive community.

Grade: A-

Quiet, little movie that's quietly subversive. This is a comedy, written by and starring Kelly O'Sullivan, providing an unvarnished perspective on feminity, having a child and/ or choosing not to have a baby.

The three female protagonists each, is a prisoner to their own secrets. All three women are muted by shame. The only real conflict here is their inability to talk to each other. And O'Sullivan's script much like her performance, is sweet without ever going sickly. Great stuff.