Movie Review: Firecrackers

Firecrackers *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Jasmin Mozaffari.

Written by: Jasmin Mozaffari.

Starring: Michaela Kurimsky (Lou), Karena Evans (Chantal), Callum Thompson (Jesse), David Kingston (Johnny), Tamara LeClair (Leanne), Scott Cleland (Josh), Dylan Mask (Kyle), Gabe Meacher (Eric), Robert Cormier (Shane), Tarick Glancy (Travis), Karleena Kelly (Cam Girl), Devon Collins (Taylor), Jorja Cadence (Skylar).

 

Firecrackers is a bleak film about two teenage girls in a dead-end, go nowhere Ontario town who dream of getting out and going to New York. What they’ll do there they don’t say – they probably don’t even know – all they really know is that they no longer want to be stuck here in this town where there is nothing to do except drink, do drugs and fuck idiot boys. There is no industry to speak of here – where they exactly they are isn’t specified, but it looks like it could easily be one of those beach towns that people get away in the summer, and dead the rest of the time. One of the girls has a mother in the picture – but she isn’t much of a good influence, and the other doesn’t even have that. They are going nowhere if they don’t get out – that’s about all they know.

 

Firecrackers is a film that immediately brings to mind the work of Andrea Arnold (who got her biggest showcase with Season 2 of Big Little Lies, until the men involved – none of who are as talented as she is pretty much pushed her out in post-production) – specifically her two stories of young women trying to escape their lot in life – Fish Tank and American Honey. It isn’t as good as either of those films – perhaps because like many first time filmmakers, Jasmin Mozaffari is expanding a short film into a feature – always a tricky endeavor, as sometimes there just isn’t enough material to expand. Firecrackers can feel repetitive at times – as it puts its two main characters through the ringer again and again. I also wish there was more of a sense of place to the film – the small town here feels anonymous – perhaps intentionally, to make it seem universal (or not limit it in markets who normally wouldn’t watch a Canadian film) – but I wish there was more of a sense of this place other than it being a dead end town where dreams go to die.

 

Having said that, there is still a ton to recommend about Firecrackers – which certainly marks Mozaffari as a filmmaker to watch. For one thing, the two lead performances are terrific – especially that of Michaela Kurimsky as Lou. She’s the leader of the two girls – the more assertive of the two, and the one that will get them into the most trouble. She struggles with her mother – a former addict, who now says she has found God – and a much younger boyfriend, Johnny (David Kingston) – another addict who says he has found the same. Johnny isn’t a father figure type – he tries, but he’s so weak willed, such a pushover around everyone, and seemingly teetering on the brink of his own sobriety, he simply cannot do anything. Lou is reckless, she acts without thinking. But she is also caring and loyal – she struggles with her own sexuality – she performs as teenage girls are supposed to, but there’s more there than that – and she is supportive of her younger brother, who seems to be dealing with his own burgeoning sexuality in a way their mother never can be. There is a marked difference in how Lou behaves when she has to perform for her peers, then when she is apart from them. And Kurimsky nails it all. Karena Evans as her best friend Chantal also has a tricky role. She is one of the only non-white people in town – and has to deal with the casual racism that is there in an almost all white community. She is more passive than Lou – more accepting of the things that are done to here, more willing to go along to get along – even when terrible things are done to her.

 

In a way, this is a tale of female friendship – but it’s apparent that it’s a friendship that may not last. Lou and Chantal have clung to each other in this small town, because basically, they have no one else to cling to. They have this dreaming of getting out – but it’s one Lou seems to want more than Chantal when it comes down to it. The back half of the film concentrates more on Lou as the two friends separate for a time, before being brought back together at the end. Even there, they seem to be performing their friendship more than they were at the beginning. This relationship feels more fragile and tenuous than ever before.

 

As a director, Mozaffari is already quite good. While the Arnold influence is apparent, she also makes the film her own with her style. The film can be chaotic and hectic – the wild night that almost destroys everything for the two girls for example. But she is also more than capable of slowing things down as she does in the back half. The writing isn’t quite as strong as the direction – the film certainly does feel like a short expanded into a feature, with perhaps too many of the same beats hit again and again, which results in the film being perhaps more punishing than it intended. But it shows Mozaffari as a filmmaker to watch – and I’ll certainly be watching for Evan and especially Kurimsky as well.