GOOD POSTURE review

The feature directorial debut of Dolly Wells sees an aimless young woman, Lilian (Grace Van Patten), move in with some of her father's friends after a break up. The home of famous author Julia Price (Emily Mortimer), Lillian forms a combative bond with her reclusive benefactor via notes left in her journal that leads her to think Julia might be the perfect subject for a documentary.

Formerly a regular face on British TV screens in the like of The Mighty Boosh, Peep Show and The IT Crowd, not forgetting big screen appearances in the Bridget Jones series, Dolly Wells is perhaps best known for the TV series she co-created and starred in with her long time best friend Emily Mortimer, Doll & Em. Here she takes on the role of writer/director to tell the story of Grace Van Patten's Lilian, enlisting Emily Mortimer as a famously reclusive novelist forced to house this young woman in search of a direction in life.

Grace Van Patten has slowly been building a career as an in demand indie darling, appearing in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories, Adam Leon's Tramps, and from earlier this year, David Robert Mitchell's Under The Silver Lake. Here she's front and centre, appearing in nearly every frame of the film as a spirited Lilian, unsure of what direction to take and waiting to start looking for a new apartment with her father, currently in France with his new girlfriend. There's a risk that some of Lilian's social flaws that lead to the break up of her relationship with Nate (Gary Richardson), like always forgetting to take a towel for after a shower and using other people's toothbrushes, could have been presented as cutesy manic pixie dream girl foibles to be cherished and adored, but the other characters around her, namely Mortimer's Julia and Timm Sharp's dog walker, George, can barely tolerate her presence at the start of the film. Julia even dubs her "the entitled oaf", a title Lilian is keen to prove Julia wrong about.

Good Posture is one of those delightful little indies that makes you realise how inherently cinematic New York is. Filmed in and around the Bed Stuy neighbourhood Dolly Wells now calls home, there's lingering, static shots of the beautiful houses with the steps leading up to the front doors and tracking shots of the local streets and their inhabitants, staring back at the ethereal spectator of the camera. If Lilian isn't in a situation you would want to experience, at least hers is a world you would like to visit.

Having said that, a lot of the action takes place within the four walls and garden of Julia Price's house, with the majority of Julia and Lilian's interactions delivered via snippy notes they leave for each other in Lilian's journal as they argue over dinner (helpfully narrated for us). Mortimer's Julia is an ever present character, but she doesn't actually appear in the film very much, leaving Julia Price to be something of an enigmatic figure mostly hidden behind a closed door, right up until the end of the film. This is partly offset by a device the film has of having real life well known authors such as Zadie Smith, Jonathan Ames and Martin Amis waxing lyrical about their love for (the fictional) Julia Price's work. It's a little jarring at first, but once it's apparent this is footage collected by Lilian and her cameraman Sol (a hilariously on form John Early) for their unauthorised documentary, it makes a lot more narrative sense.

Owing a debt to some of the big hitters of the independent movie scene like Noah Baumbach and Daryl Wein, it's at times a little rough around the edges in its presentation but thanks to its witty, engaging script and hugely likeable cast, Good Posture is able to stand up straight and hold its head up high as a delightfully charming little indie. Expect great things from Wells and Van Patten in the future.

Verdict
4/5

ALL THIS PANIC review

Following a group of young women as they make the important decisions that will impact the rest of their lives, the vibrant and moving documentary All This Panic is out now.

Beginning with a scene of teenagers riding around on bikes, you could be forgiven for thinking you've seen this story before; and although there is a Spike Jonze/Mike Mills-esque "kids found in a skate park" vibe to the film, there so much more to it. Not an expose designed to shock parents, these New Yorkers manage to steer clear of Larry Clark's Kids territory and are much more on a par with the subjects of American Teen, although this film covers little of their collegiate life and is more focused on their familial relationships and friendships. They are both caught in a race to see who can be the most grown up first and feeling like they need more time to grow up. Fighting against the current and with the fear of being left behind, they embark on impossibly sweet first romances, figure out their identities (both sexual and societal) and have existential crises. It feels like a real life Lena Dunham story, as if the characters in Girls had a documentary prequel.

Filmed over three years as their lives undergo drastic changes and make huge choices, the girls we meet at the start of the film are hugely different to the young women we know at the end. There is a lack of outsiders in the film, instead choosing to focus on a group of friends with similar backgrounds. All of these young women have had a largely upper middle class upbringing, surrounded by their friends with top schooling and the freedom to explore many avenues, but it's the disparity between them that provides the most interest.

Although it is an ensemble featuring many interesting paths, Lena and Ginger dominate the story, largely due to them being the first subjects director Jenny Gage followed and best friends who go in diametrically opposed directions. Lena starts the film as an impossibly awkward teenager who throws a party for her friends with beer and cute little cupcakes, musing on her all so short life with statements full of naivety and confidence, like "for a long time I thought I'd be a philosophy professor, and for a long time before that I thought I'd be an actor". However, they've seen enough teen dramas to know that life doesn't always follow the best laid plans, and it's a joy to follow her progress as she blossoms into an incredibly strong and independent young woman.

Ginger is slightly more of a hellraiser; an outspoken and resolute firebrand who accuses her younger sister Dusty of "pretending you're Margot Tenenbaum", completely oblivious to the fact that with her own secret romances, artistic leanings and droll outlook on life that she's such a Margot Tenenbaum. Her path is very different to her friends', seeing the supposed four year journey through college as more time for self growth and to figure out who she wants to be. Her younger sister Dusty is one of the less explored characters in the film, but has a really interesting arc. Seemingly more emotionally together and grown up than her older sister, she is observing and learning from her mistakes in a way that only those with an older sibling can.

It's a beautiful, bohemian New York where the sun beams down constantly despite taking place over many seasons, and with such growth over a short period of time it feels as if it has an almost unreal and dreamlike narrative that could have been constructed. But, shot handheld and free as if director Jenny Gage and DP Tom Betterton were class friends on the same journey, there's a real intimacy and honesty on show that you can't fake.

The title suggests advice a parent would state to their teenage daughter after a dramatic conflict. "All this panic, and what's to show for it?" In this case, it's a thoroughly engaging coming of age story.

All This Panic is in cinemas and on VOD now.

Verdict
5/5

NERVE review

The premise is simple enough. People decide if they want to be a watcher or player of Nerve, performing increasingly stupid and dangerous tasks to gain money and followers until they're the last one standing.

Emma Roberts stars as Vee, a shy teenager who is too scared to approach the boy she likes at school and takes a passive role in life. When she is embarrassed by her Nerve playing friend Sydney (Emily Meade), Vee decides to sign up to Nerve as a player, quickly hooking up Ian (Dave Franco) a player with a mysterious past whose daredevil antics have seen him end up near the top of the leaderboard.

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman who gave us the original Catfish film and later directed some of the Paranormal Activity sequels, this film unsurprisingly taps into a world where everything is documented on cameras and phones and put onto the Internet.

Tapping into that thirst for fame through exhibitionism that defines the snapchat generation, it's here that Nerve finds its strongest element. There's something that feels so very current about this film that even in this fantastical reality where things can shift from having no consequences to deadly consequences, Nerve barely seems like fiction. It's completely plausible that some of these stunts could happen, and that there would be people with camera phones lining the streets eager to document it and prove they were there when it happened.

It's not all about adrenaline junkies and exhibitionists, though. Whereas Limitless posited the idea that we only use 10% of our brains, Nerve finds its narrative by using the same statistics about the Internet. The shadowy world of the 'dark web' is casually explored here, digging into the sinister motives behind the entire Nerve game. The film also attempts to throw shade at the anonymity of the Internet, with some degree of success at highlighting the problems that give cause to issues such as Gamergate.

Largely the success of the film can be attributed to its two leads, as Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are an extremely likeable pairing that you want to see succeed. Both actors have previously been weighed down by familial expectations (a headline on Vee's laptop screen cheekily asks, "is James Franco too smart?"), but both are quickly coming into their own as charming and successful movie stars.

Liberally borrowing elements from The Running Man, The Game and Limitless (with a bit of Hackers thrown in), Nerve nevertheless manages to be a consistently entertaining romp through NYC.

Verdict

3.5/5