Eight Great Films at BAMcinemaFest’s Opening Weekend
Little Sister
Directed by Zach Clark
On paper, Little Sister sounds like just another dysfunctional family drama, with a daughter who fled, Colleen (Addison Timlin)—now a nun in New York—temporarily returning home to North Carolina to face assorted past tensions. As ever with writer-director Clark, though, the devil is in the details. Set during 2008 in the lead-up to the first Obama inauguration, Colleen’s tenuously hopeful perspective could be said to reflect the tenor of the country at the time, with her disfigured and disaffected brother Jacob (Keith Poulson), just recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, an example of the despair that led many Americans to rally around President Obama’s optimistic message. Ultimately, the film comes down to an emotional showdown of sorts between Colleen and her suicidal manic-depressive mother, Joan (Ally Sheedy), who we glean is the main reason she spurned her former hedonistic punk lifestyle. As for Colleen, consider this temporary return home her own personal last temptation, as she tests herself with the lures of her previous life before deciding whether to fully commit to her newly chosen religious path. Clark closely observes all these character dynamics with an empathetic eye, a skewed sense of humor, and a freewheeling inventiveness that keeps things refreshingly off-balance without losing its emotional heart. Kenji Fujishima (Screens June 17, 9:45pm, followed by Q&A with Clark, Timlin and Sheedy, and preceded by Jack Dunphy’s short Chekhov; currently without distribution)