I don't even know why I'm crying - I'm an agnostic feminist!

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...

#41 : Saint Frances

Nicely observed US indie written by and starring Kelly O’Sullivan, who plays a woman in her mid-30s whose unexpected pregnancy coincides with her getting a job as a nanny for a kid called Frances (Ramona Edith Williams).

Another film I'd heard of - we're on a roll!  And this one I was actually planning to watch - it got good write-ups and I like a "nicely observed US indie".  Having said that, I didn't really know entirely what I was going to get - so let's see, shall we?

Well, it's certainly nicely observed, US and indie!  Bridget is the normal type of adult in these things - charming but useless (at least to start with) but she is very nicely observed (and very well played by Kelly as well).  And Frances is the normal type of kid in these things - wise beyond her years and sassy to boot (and extremely well played by Ramona).  And do they, by any chance, get to go on a journey together?  You betcha...

But it's a very touching and believable (as far as these things go in movies) journey played out through a series of well thought out and well shot vignettes with some delightful other characters involved along the way.  The vignettes vary from humorous (the nanny interview featuring slightly more honesty than you'd expect in these situations) to quirky ("Do you want to know if it's twins?  It isn't") to emotional ("I said no talking - so what are you doing crying?").  The acting is generally good throughout but (in addition to the main characters previously mentioned) Max Lipchitz deserves credit for playing the "trying to be helpful whilst being totally useless - but in a nice way” potential boyfriend and Charin Alvarez/Lily Mojekwu are both excellent as the two mums.

One minor detour here - something I would say is that you might not want to watch this film if you have any issues with abortion or women bleeding (for varying reasons!).  I wouldn't describe the depiction as graphic, but they are themes that pop up frequently (OK - very frequently) and in a surprising range of different scenes as well (if you watch it, you'll be amazed how often it gets worked into scenes!).  Another completely random detour is that Evanstown looks to be a LOVELY city!

Right, back to less random matters - what I would say that elevates this film beyond the average "nicely observed US indie" is the dialogue - it's an excellent combination of natural, awkward and funny with a lot of it being very wise and very quotable, without ever feeling too forced.  There's also a good mix of emotions running through the film - some serious, some light, some comical - and I must admit to having had something in my eye at one or two points in the film.  What is also quite nice in this film is that the men that are not all useless or bastards (although there is obviously one useless bastard featured - it wouldn't be allowed to be made otherwise!)

Given that Kelly O'Sullivan both wrote and starred in this film (and it's directed by her partner as well), it's going to live or die by the strength of her input and personally I think she can be massively proud of what she's achieved here - it's a very impressive piece of work.  Wikipedia tells me she was inspired to create this having seen the job Greta Gerwig did with Ladybird and that doesn't surprise me in the least - if you liked Ladybird (and there's absolutely no reason not to do so) then you can do far worse than give this a go.

At the time of writing, Saint Frances is available to watch on Netflix and it's certainly at the top end of the films I've watched so far on this list.  I'm a fan and will be watching out for what Kelly does next.

#42 - Another surprisingly enjoyable experience
#40 - This is hard work