I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) review – lyrical study of pandemic LA homelessness – The Guardian
This pandemic-set drama exudes frustration and exasperation, however at all times stays in contact with a vital openness and optimism. It’s anchored in a wise efficiency from co-director Kalley Kali who, as bereaved gig-economy hustler Danny, appears in a everlasting state of disappointment and delicate distraction – although presumably the latter is one thing to do with the actual fact she performs more often than not on rollerblades.
Danny resides in a tent within the scrub someplace on the sting of Los Angeles (presumably Pacoima, the place this was filmed) along with her eight-year-old daughter, Wes (Wesley Moss). She tells her child that it’s only for enjoyable, attempting to protect her from the tough fact: they’ve grow to be homeless following the demise of her companion and Wes’s father. After dropping Wes off at daycare, Danny straps on her leopard-print blades and, moonlighting between hair-braiding and meals supply, makes an attempt to squeeze out the $200 she wants earlier than day’s finish to make a deposit on a flat.
After a few disappointing hair appointments, Danny runs into cocksure previous pal Brooklynn (BK Marie) on the launderette; she’s about to maneuver her household in along with her new fella, regardless of having solely been with him for 2 weeks. On this scene, in a pawnshop the place Danny agonises about promoting her companion’s ring to a flirty participant, and in a disturbing encounter with a pal, Kali and co-director Dominique Molina push a wry however pointed give attention to ladies resorting to sexual foreign money in powerful occasions – or refusing to take action.
As Danny is hauled about city at a supply app’s behest, I’m Effective (Thanks for Asking)’s plotting sometimes feels a bit baldly linear – however it more and more flexes a lyrical muscle, starting with a surrealist plunge into stoned nervousness, constructing as much as a surprising LA reverie that releases all Danny’s maternal reduction in a single go. Kali and Molina’s sun-kissed naturalism and light-weight contact make them a promising new voice in American cinema.
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