This is a sweet little film, anchored by star Barbie Ferreira’s excellent, frequently heartbreaking performance.
It’s also one of the saddest films I’ve ever seen, with a concluding emotional wallop that left me a wreck. (In a good way.)
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| Although their initial in-person meeting is a near disaster, Lily (Barbie Ferreira) and Bob (John Leguizamo) recover quickly, and soon settle into an increasingly strong friendship. |
This is particularly important for those unfortunate enough to have toxic biological family members.
That’s the case with Lily Trevino (Ferreira), introduced at low ebb, having just realized that her boyfriend is cheating on her. (He was stupid enough to send Lily a message intended for the other woman.) Cinematographer John Rosario’s mercilessly tight close-up leaves no room for Ferreira to “cheat” the moment; her embarrassment, humiliation and anger are as palpable as the tears that flow down her cheeks.
And what does Lily do, in the moment? Rather than sending a “drop dead” message that the guy deserves, she more-or-less lets him off the hook, as if toying with her emotions is no big deal.
Alas, Lily comes by this reaction naturally, having lost her mother at age 4, and thereafter been raised by her selfish, manipulative and emotionally abusive father, Robert (French Stewart, whose performance takes no prisoners). Watching the two of them together is sheer agony. We grieve for her.
Lily isn’t quite a failure-to-launch, but she’s still a mess: self-esteem that wouldn’t fill a thimble, no respect for her body image, too many credit cards maxed to their limit, and no sense of basic survival skills.
She lucked into a good job, though, as a live-in aide for wheelchair-bound Daphne (Lauren “Lolo” Spencer), roughly the same age. But that’s also a crutch of sorts, because it allows Lily the luxury of not having to worry about more than grocery shopping, preparing meals and being a compassionate companion. Which she is.
Even Lily’s attempt at self-improvement by seeing a counselor goes awry, when the poor woman (Ashlyn Moore), fresh on the job, bursts into tears after hearing a recitation of details about Lily’s horrific childhood.
