Kajillionaire
It should be no surprise that one of the year’s weirdest and best films comes from Miranda July, an artist with an utterly unique sense of the world. Kajillionaire turns the quirk level up to eleven, but a deep vein of empathy lies under its surface-level oddity. The movie follows a family of poor scammers living in earthquake-prone LA whose lives take a turn when they meet a stranger, played by Gina Rodriguez, who embraces the most unorthodox parts of their lifestyle. Evan Rachel Wood stars as Old Dolio, a gruff-voiced, awkward young adult who is unable to grow up since she never really got a childhood in the first place. Wood and Rodriguez are a fantastic odd couple that makes the story’s strange, lovely heart beat.
Kajillionaire is currently available on VOD.
Lingua Franca
Writer-director-star Isabel Sandoval breathes life into an often-politicized narrative with her intimate, humane portrait of a transgender, undocumented Filipina woman. Sandoval herself plays Olivia, a caregiver who saves up money to pay for a green card marriage and sends an allowance to her mother abroad. Many stories centering on trans characters focus on intolerance and violence, but Lingua Franca is aching and romantic. When Olivia meets her elderly client’s troubled grandson, Alex (Eamon Farren), real feelings develop, leaving Olivia at a crossroads, her vulnerable heart cracked open for him.
Lingua Franca is currently streaming on Netflix.
The Lodge
The Lodge is a slow-burn horror film that buries its viewers in an oppressively bleak atmosphere as heavy and inescapable as a blizzard’s snowfall. Fans of Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s Goodnight Mommy should expect nothing less, but even the most unshakable genre fans might catch themselves flinching at this perfectly nasty piece of work. The Lodge is a film that plays best if you go in blind, but it’s safe to say that the plot involves a secluded winter vacation from hell. Riley Keough is at her career-best as the potentially shady temporary guardian of her boyfriend’s two children, who are played by Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh. If you finish The Lodge and still possess the will to live, try a double feature with recent thematic and aesthetic companions like Hereditary or The Lighthouse.
The Lodge is currently streaming on Hulu.
Miss Americana
The rare music documentary that comes across less as manufactured PR (although it succeeded in an image-molding capacity, too) and more like an authentic, confessional autobiography, Miss Americana is much more than just a Taylor Swift documentary. The film hones in on society’s relationship to celebrities and young women in particular, exploring the misogyny, judgment, and dehumanization that becomes a part of the package for the uber-famous among us in a social media age. Through documentarian Lana Wilson’s eyes, Swift appears to be a fiery feminist, a painfully self-critical perfectionist, and a dorky-cool girl whose unusual life experiences are both unavoidably isolating and creatively inspiring. Then, just when we think it couldn’t get better, Miss Americana skillfully reveals Swift as a political progressive who isn’t afraid to get on President Trump’s bad side.
Miss Americana is currently streaming on Netflix.
Miss Juneteenth
Channing Godfrey Peoples makes an auspicious directorial debut with Miss Juneteenth, a small-town story about a mother who wants the world for her daughter. Nicole Beharie stars as Turquoise, a single mom with a rocky past who dreams of her daughter, Kai (Alexis Chikaeze), winning the Miss Juneteenth pageant — and the significant scholarship that goes with it — just as she did as a teen. Kai’s rebellion and disinterest fuel much of the story, but Miss Juneteenth is less about a plot than a feeling. The film perfectly captures the gap between a mother’s intentions and a daughter’s autonomy, a teen-parent rift that can at times feel insurmountable. The movie feels lived-in in the best way, forgoing any type of easy cinematic lesson and instead presenting a well-acted, simply written slice-of-life drama.
Miss Juneteenth is currently streaming on Kanopy.
Related Topics: 2020 Rewind
