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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Indie flick 'Certain Women' isn't just for certain people

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The film industry is at its best revelatory and at its worst too conspicuous for its own good. Many people will recognize those too-obvious films, the ones that feel akin to having their hands held through decidedly intricate moments in a story, all too well. Where some people haven’t mastered the art of subtlety, other artists revel in it. Kelly Reichardt's newest film “Certain Women," which was released on Oct. 14, showcases how powerful restrained storytelling can be as a means of casting light on the regretfully underserved fringes of society.

Reichardt (fun fact: she’s an SMFA grad) is no stranger to the indie circuit. Her past works, such as "Night Moves" (2013) and "Meek's Cutoff" (2010), were met with warm acclaim. She’s written most of her films, as she did with “Certain Women,” only this time she took inspiration from Maile Meloy’s collection of short stories, “Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It: Stories” (2009). Reichardt's palpable patience and compassion for each of the chosen characters is a beautiful sight to behold.

The film opens with a long shot of a passing train, accentuated by the stunning Montana background. In totality, it might have only lasted about a minute and a half, but by conventional cinema standards, it might as well have been five minutes. What this seemingly irrelevant introduction does is acclimate the audience to a style that does not fit in with the established norm of fast-paced spectacle. This moment is truly representative of Reichardt's unflinching gaze throughout the film.

The resulting meticulously-crafted character study takes the form of three separate chapters, each with its own characters and arc. The first follows a lawyer, Laura Wells (Laura Dern), who extends herself so much that she ends up in a hostage situation. The second is about a mother, Gina Lewis (Michelle Williams), who finds herself at odds with people who get in the way of building a home. The third, and arguably most impactful portion of the film, rests on a young rancher Jamie (Lily Gladstone) who is utterly fascinated by and longs for the company of Beth Travis (Kristen Stewart), a law student she meets by chance.

Initially, audiences might be put off by the obvious shifts in narrative, but as each respective story gets its due payoff, they become necessary and enjoyable. There is the faintest tinge of connecting the stories together in the last part of the film, but this was not the intended hallmark and merely reflects the happenstance intersectionality of how life actually plays out.

The achingly slow development paves the way for fully fleshed-out characters to form, and the effect is mesmerizing. This is partly because, even in today's more aware climate, it's rare to find one, let alone four, women represented onscreen in a way that treats their individual stories with dignity and as though they matter. Every one of them is played magnificently. Stewart's confident yet artfully-measured performance is cause for question: what can't she do? She's had an amazing year, what with the acclaim she's garnered from her stints in Woody Allen's "Café Society" (2016) as well as her upcoming films "Personal Shopper" (2016) and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" (2016). A few weeks ago, Fandor decided 2016 is the Year of Kristen Stewart, and this reviewer dares anyone to try to dispute this.

As fulfilling as Stewart's work is in "Certain Women," people won't leave the theater thinking for hours about her. They're going to go think about newcomer Gladstone. Reichardt took the original character, Travis B, from Meloy's short stories and rewrote him as a young woman named Jamie, adding an undeniable potency to the plot. She experiences some of the most heartbreaking solitude that one can imagine, and her struggle to make meaningful connections is as uncomfortable as it is impossible to look away from. The viewer can see from miles away that she will never quite reach her ultimate goal, and the unpacking of the final moment when Jamie does as well is devastating and is exactly the kind of heart-twisting acting that everyone goes to the movies to see.

Every once in a while, a recently released film manages to illicit such a fervent response from this reviewer, that she has no choice but to scream and demand that every poor soul who crosses paths with her watches said film. Indie-lovers will understand instantly, but, ideally, a wider audience will step out of their comfort zone and take a chance, even if it happens under coercion by Stewart's unyielding fanbase.

Summary
4.5 Stars