Kajillionaire (Miranda July)

[Ezee E]

WIKI

[Ezee E]

Certainly gives the feel of the 2000s indie.

Kajillionaire certainly has a logic that would work far better if it were set in the 80's. Pre-Internet and Technology, I think the family's philosophy and worldview could actually function, but set in current time, it feels gimmicky.

Luckily, the cast involved make it fun and worthwhile anyway, with an especially good performance from Gina Rodriguez, whose bubbly/real world personality are a good balance for the Dolio (?) family. Evan Rachel Wood also gives life to a character that could've very easily just been a cartoon. Funny at one moment, concern at the next... Sometimes both at once. That's no easy task.

There's a scene set mostly in darkness that I particularly loved

[Peng]

This is somehow my first brush with Miranda July's works, apart from her strong supporting role in Madeline's Madeline. I haven't quite expected that underneath all her famed quirks belie a potent dose of melancholy about reaching emotional truth under artifice (the scene with the dying man gets almost unbearably poignant) and also about a person's retroactive unpacking/coping with abuse after years of cult-like living -- the film feels like an American indie mashup of Shoplifters and Dogtooth, in which July walks that risky tonal tightrope well. Plus, it stealthily contains one of the year's best, most electric romances, due in large part to Gina Rodriguez's stellar, charismatic turn. 7.5/10