Tuesday 21 June 2016

Quarter-Life Crisis Films


Adult Life Skills
 Anna is approaching 30 and still living in her mums shed at the bottom of the garden. She has a teenager’s attitude and spends her days making videos starring her thumbs as actors. Her fed up mum gives her an ultimatum a week before her 30th birthday: move out of the shed, get a hair cut that doesn’t put her gender into question and stop dressing like a teenager. When Anna’s school friend comes to visit she tries to bring Anna to face reality. Stumbling up to her 30th birthday she somehow ends up in an unusual friendship with an eight year old boy and a somewhat awkward, not- quite-relationship with the local real estate agent who tries to seduce her. A story exploring the universal theme of being lost and finding yourself, coming to terms with who you are and gaining self-confidence.


Frances Ha
Frances lives in New York but doesn’t really have an apartment and works as a dancer but doesn’t really dance. Her best friend Sophie is also her roommate, until Sophie decides to move to her dream neighbourhood that Frances can’t afford. Frances is left stumbling through life with a lack of money, pitiable prospect as a professional dancer and a strained friendship with Sophie.


Bridesmaids
This is what rock bottom looks like: Annie’s bakery is shuttered, she’s now working at a jewellery store her mum helped her get a job at, but then got fired, she has a repulsive flatmate that then kicks her out, and the only man in her life is Ted; an occasional sex partner that doesn’t even let her sleepover. In the midst of all this Annie’s best friend Jillian gets engaged and asks her to be her maid of honour. Annie soon finds herself competing with another bridesmaid called Helen, Julian’s beautiful wealthy friend, that can give her everything Annie can’t and more. Annie feels constantly undermine by Helen and finds herself loosing it at the cost of her best friend’s wedding.


Young Adult
Mavis Gary, former high school “it girl” to an alcoholic divorcee is a writer for a series of books which eventually gets cancelled once she has near completed them. After receiving an email from her high school boyfriend of his new born baby with his wife she decides to move back home. Completely unmoved by the fact that her ex-boyfriend is happily married with a newborn she embarks on a journey to win him back. Along the way she forms a friendship with a former high school class mate who was left disabled after being beaten up by the school jocks. He becomes her voice of reason and attempts to get her out of her delusional state of winning her married ex-boyfriend back and help get her life back on track.


Lola Versus 
Approaching her 30th birthday and 3 weeks before her wedding her fiancée breaks up with her. Lola’s world crumbles around her leaving her a hot mess. With no man, no apartment in NYC and writers block for her PHD she turns to her best friends. She stumbles through making bad choice after bad choice on a journey to finding herself and coming to terms with turning 30 as a single woman.


Adult Life Skills is in cinemas Friday.