SYNOPSIS
Starlet. Jane is a beautiful young dreamer swanning around California’s San Fernando Valley, preferring the company of her pet chihuahua to the housemates she has ended up moving in with, as they are either getting high or on the make. After a confrontation at a yard sale, Jane finds a muddled motive to befriend the woman she has argued with, a cantankerous elderly widow named Sadie. Sadie is naturally suspicious and appeals to be left to tend her garden and play bingo, yet Jane’s persistence wears her down. Sean Baker’s striking feature is at turns sweet and disarming; the gauzily beautiful imagery luring the viewer in while its plot takes deft and provocative shifts in tone. Supported by a vibrant cast are two exceptional first timers; Dree Hemingway (great granddaughter of Ernest and daughter of Mariel) shines as the naïve but well-meaning Jane, while Besedka Johnson, making her acting debut at 85 years of age, is superb as the tough old woman accepting that she is coming to the end of her life.