'Saint Frances' A Review

Saint Frances is a dramedy about a young woman past adolescence but still struggling to find her way. Bridge(Kelly O'Sullivan) meets and gets pregnant by Jace(Max Lipchitz), through a friend she stumbles into a nannying job for Maya(Charin Alvarez) and Annie( Lily Mojekwu) for their daughter Frances(Ramona Edith Williams), and begins to drift toward maturity.

O'Sullivan gives a remarkably stark performance, not that it is brooding or without humor but the character is so clearly flawed and at times clueless but O'Sullivan plays these instances and situations with no apology and no overt charm. What is left is a portrait of a real, compelling person even though her stumblings can be cringe inducing her triumphs and transformation are ultimately more impactful. Lipchitz is a welcome, lovable, and earnest counterpoint and pairs well with O'Sullivan's dryness, playing perhaps a hipster Peter Pan archetype we know but with more compassion, depth and humor. Alvarez and Mojekwu also pair well with Alvarez given more of an arch and time to sink her teeth into, Mojekwu is mostly left to be austere but is given, and makes great work of, a really wonderful emotional crescendo towards the end. Williams is necessarily precocious but is able convey both a naturalness and appeal that make the film, a more presentational or "cute" child actor would have stopped it cold.

Under the constrains of budget the production doesn't always wow but there is clear artistry in interior set ups and use of focus, costumes although mostly practical convey clearly but without pretension the various socio-economic differences between the characters and there are some nice prop touches like the obnoxious title of one of Bridget's former classmates books.

A quiet, sometimes surprisingly unflinching look at a woman belatedly finding her purpose.

Available to rent on most VOD platforms.

See It.