Totally enjoyed this funny little indie film!!
SoS gave me a bunch of laugh out loud moments. Very grateful to the creators for giving me those. It's so rare to get good gut busting laughs these days. I'm grateful they made a fun little dive into an unfamiliar world with so comically familiar archetypal characters.
We don't get many films that take an intimate ride into modern female southern upbringing like Writer/dir/star Shy Pilgreen's SoS. Lacy's character creation seems like it's cut from the fabric of harsh reality. But that rawness of truth of what life is in the south renders a finished product that is so hilarious because it's so authentic. And vice versa. Pilgreen gives us a "no punches pulled" view into a life few of us know: southern local flea markets.
A fantastic setting for a workplace comedy.
From that unfamiliar world we build out the major players, Lacy's off-their-kilter family who pitches in to man the family trade: selling merchandise (and street drugs) at local flea markets. There's the leader of the clan, Mike, Lacy's domineering and obstinate older brother. Mike is a character we know. He's a comedy writing staple: The patriarch whose stubbornness prevents him from getting out of his own way. He's a Peter Griffin. A Homer Simpson. An Al Bundy. Although Mike is the hard-R rated, drug dealing, child neglecting, asshole version of those archetypal fathers. He's the guy Al Bundy dreamed of being but was too nice to ever get there. And we love Mike for being so selfish. So honestly human.
There's Ila, Mike's "no effs given" wife and their rambunctious adrenaline'd up kids, as well as a cast of over-the-top characters that color the comedy aspects of Deep South life in rich brushstrokes. "Say it like it is" flea market employee Frita, bumbling idiot drug dealing associate Rosie, and back shed moonshine making Jabo are some of the standouts. But all the Deep South authenticity shines through in every one of these characters.
Even with being the "normal" character for the audience to adjust into this new world, Lacy still behaves just as crude, just as destructive as everyone else in this world. Pilgreen is Lacy. From the harsh drug benders to the wild sex and ultimately to the tender realizations of gratitude for everything (re the extended family) she has. This is her life. And it shows in her performance. No wonder Lacy's last name is Hilgreen.
It's a fun and funny movie that is raunchy, tender and unapologetically honest. Bravo!!
