Palm Trees and Power Lines

First heard of this film while watching the Film Independent awards. This certainly isn't an uplifting film, but I did go in blind, only knowing the small bit on the IFC awards show for "breakthrough actor" nomination.

Going in blind it first appears to be a coming of age film that takes a bit of a sideways step, as an older (mid to late 30's) guy enters the life of a disconnected young girl, and seems a bit off but he charms his way into her life, while her home life is almost non-existent due to a single mother upbringing and her own mother's penchant for making life mistakes, and in this case repeating them. Tjese mistakes cause more distance between her and the daughter's dynamic. It also sent her firstly into hanging with friends til all hours, and ultimately charmed into what seems like an unhealthy, compulsive relationship with this new, older man.

Again, the narrative seems to take it further down the rabbit hole with the feel of a road movie starting to enter the overall feel of the storyarc---like a "forbidden relationship" that may take them on a journey. Until it doesn't.

It takes the turn that structured families fear may happen, and unstructured---feels almost inevitable.

Lily McInerney as Lea captures pure unadulterated innocence and vulnerability that this new "man" takes advantage of. Her damaged upbringing becomes her downfall, but instead of drugs and homelessness---we get something a bit more harrowing when you couple Lea's vulnerable state with her naivity.

Script is lean and mean, score is perfect in the right spots, adding tension when there is, and Gretchen Mol's role as the detached mother takes a back seat to quite a riveting performance by McInerney who is not only convincingly smart and real, it should also hit home to any parent that has a young daughter and the trepidation that some parents may feel when their daughter leaves the house making the same poor decisions that the mother has instilled. It's a dangerous cycle and the outcome of the final act shows just that. A pure gutpunch.

Pure and real independent film making at it finest.

8.5/10.