From this year’s Sundance, I watched two films with completely different perspectives. The first is an uncomfortably funny teen drama; The second a dark, gritty thriller based on true stories of violence.
Extra Geography (dir. Molly Manners)
Based on a short story by Rose Tremain, Extra Geography follows two best friends, Flic (Marni Duggan) and Minna (Galaxie Clear), through the end of their tenth year at a British boarding school. They’re attached at the hip, sometimes moving as one, and as intelligent and loyal to each other as they are cold and curt to everyone else in their lives. They’re planning their project for the summer, finding new ways to challenge themselves to be more “worldly” and improve their chances at acceptance into Oxbridge. They reluctantly audition for the co-ed production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but ultimately decide that their project should be to fall in love. Flic resists, insisting she’d always wanted to fall in love after getting her Master’s, but eventually agrees. Rather than selecting a suitor, they let fate decide by choosing the very next person they see, which happens to be their geography teacher, Miss Delavigne (Alice Englert).
From the start, Duggan and Clear are double trouble. They seem to be so effortlessly in sync with their movements and dialogue, and fully encapsulate brusque angst while also showing the duality of teenage booksmarts and insane decision-making. They’re harsh to everyone, even sometimes to each other, and as the film progresses, they begin to really come into their own as individuals, for better or for worse. Englert is exemplary as the drab, introverted teacher who is thrilled that the two are taking such an interest in geography, thinking nothing of their focus on New Zealand, where she happens to be from. Flic and Minna’s moody cynicism is also counterbalanced by Phoebe (Aoife Riddell), a bubbly optimist who tries so hard to be their friend, no matter how poorly they treat her.
Writer Miriam Battye’s script shines under Molly Manners’ direction in her feature debut, deftly walking the line between dark comedy and cringe drama, sometimes juggling both. Awkward scenes are punctuated by quirky piano and violins, as well as a soundtrack that features the likes of Belle and Sebastian and Tommy James and the Shondells. Music aside, there seems to be almost no phones or displays of technology, which seems almost intentional to make the film a bit more evergreen. This could take place easily anywhere in the last 50 years and you wouldn’t know the difference.
Extra Geography, is a brisk 94-minute drama that is unafraid to be both dryly funny and yet awkwardly discomforting at the same time. Viewers may find comparisons to Booksmart or The Holdovers appropriate, which in itself is high praise.
The Huntress (La Cazadora) (dir. Suzanne Andrews Correa)
Juárez, Mexico: August 28, 2013. A bus carries people along their morning commute, the same as any other day. The driver pulls up to the next stop, leering at a woman in the rearview mirror, before Luz (Adriana Paz), in a blonde wig, jumps on the bus, shoots the driver, and flees. For some time, bus drivers have been attacking women, including Luz herself. She’s become cold and distant to Jaime (Eme Malafe), who’s loyal to her and her daughter Alejandra (Jennifer Trejo), despite Luz repeatedly pushing him away.
After the murder, Luz’s life becomes anything but calmer. Cops show up to her job, questioning every woman in the factory and attempting to bully them into signing a statement identifying a different woman as the killer. One detective (Guillermo Alonso) even drops by her house, harassing her and her daughter. Meanwhile, Alejandra and her friend skip school, taking the bus to the quinceañera store and unknowingly putting their own lives at risk, and all the while Ximena (Teresa Sánchez) leads search parties, digging in the desert in the hopes of finding their long-lost children.
Inspired by the true story of Diana, Hunter of Bus Drivers in Juarez, Correa expertly helms a dark, tense thriller that can be all too real for some. Paz, as a woman marred by trauma and risking everything to protect her daughter from a life of the same, is the force that propels this film. She isn’t the cold-blooded avenger of a grindhouse film; she’s a scared mother and woman doing what the cops won’t to keep their community safe. In softer moments, she and Trejo are so convincing as mother and daughter. For all their arguing, there are still touching moments where their love for each other is so clear. Malafe’s Jaime is a welcome change from the untrustworthy men they encounter, and his efforts to support and love Luz and Alejandra are a beacon of hope in this dangerous world.
La Cazadora is not a typical revenge flick. Luz is not a fearless woman who singlehandedly takes on a cartel with nothing but a gun and gumption. Rather, she is a scared and desperate mother, doing what she thinks needs to be done to break the cycle for herself and for others. From the content to the performances, you won’t be able to look away from this one.
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