Movie Review: Saint Frances

Saint Frances *** ½ / *****
Directed by: Alex Thompson.
Written by: Kelly O'Sullivan.
Starring: Kelly O'Sullivan (Bridget), Charin Alvarez (Maya), Ramona Edith Williams (Frances), Max Lipchitz (Jace), Laura T. Fisher (Donna), Mary Beth Fisher (Carol), Francis Guinan (Dennis), Lily Mojekwu (Annie), Bradley Grant Smith (Corey), Jim True-Frost (Isaac), Rebekah Ward (Cheryl), Braden Crothers (Cortland),

One of the signs of adulthood is when you let out of the lingering resentment you have towards your parents – which happens when you can finally realize that they were just people, trying their best, and often failing. When you’re a kid, you assume adults have everything figured out – but when you become an adult, you realize that nobody does – we’re all just making it up as we go along, and hoping for the best. Saint Frances directed by Alex Thompson and written and starring Kelly O’Sullivan is about that time for the main character – Bridget – when she realizes that even people who seem to have it together have no more of a clue than she does.

Bridget is in her early 30s, and has basically been drifting since she dropped out of college more than a decade ago. She had wanted to be a writer, but that hasn’t worked out, so instead she’s a waitress – although she’s not particularly good at it, nor does she like it very much. Through her friend – who is now married, with a baby, and just moved away, she is put in contact with Maya and Annie (Charin Alvarez and Lily Mojekwu) – a lesbian couple with a six-year-old daughter Frances (Ramona Edith Williams) and a brand new baby. It’s summertime, and Maya will be staying at home, while Lily goes back to work at her high-pressure job. Bridget’s job will basically be to be a nanny to Frances – keeping her occupied during the summer until school starts again, so Maya can concentrate on the baby. Bridget isn’t particularly good with kids – but she wants them, someday, just not now – and early in the film we see her have an abortion with her not-quite boyfriend. But she’s 34 now – and doesn’t much like it when she’s told that Maya’s pregnancy is considered a “geriatric” one because she was older than 35.

In many ways, Saint Frances trod well gone over ground for indie films – the one person in a social group who still seems stuck in their 20s, even though they’re well into their 30s now. Bridget sees the people around her all getting married, having kids, settling down – and she’s no closer to doing that now than she ever was. She drifts from that not quite boyfriend, to another one, and back again – and by the end she’s nowhere really closer to figuring any of it out than she was at the beginning. The difference here though is that she isn’t told by everyone around her that it’s time to settle down and grow up. Just the opposite really – as everywhere she looks, she sees one person after another not really know what they’re doing or where they’re going – even if they have those things Bridget is supposed to want. Her mother even admits that when Bridget was a baby, she fantasized about bashing her head into the wall. But she got through it – and so will Bridget.

The life force in the movie is provided by Ramona Edith Williams as Franny – who the film gets right as a six-year-old kid in that she can be immature and annoying one minute, and absolutely charming and lovable the next. She basically steals the movie – right up to and including her final moment, which is both heartbreaking and hilarious.

I do wish that perhaps Saint Frances had found a little bit more originality somewhere along the line. The film basically hits the notes you expect it to, some in some unexpected ways, but mostly not. But O’Sullivan, as both a writer and an actress, keeps things engaging throughout – even if we’re seeing something we’ve seen before, it feels fresher in her telling than it does most of the time. And that’s mainly because the film doesn’t pull its punches – no one knows what they’re doing, and those who pretend like they do are insufferable. Bridget, like the rest of us, may never quite figure it out.